Blue Morpho
I saw 4 blue morphos over two days while riding in the Mayan jungle in Belize. Their gorgeous blue wings caught the sunlight as the flitted very quickly through the trees. This one here was in an enclosure near where we stayed where they bred only indigenous butterflies. It is feeding on banana and sharing his food with many banana owl butterflies.
The Menelaus Blue Morpho (Morpho menelaus) is an iridescent tropical butterfly of Central and South America. It has a wing span of six inches (15 centimeters). The adult drinks juice from rotten fruit with its long proboscis, which is like a sucking tube. The adult males have brighter colours than the females.
The larva eats plants at night. The larva is red-brown in colour with bright patches of lime-green or yellow. The larvae are also highly cannibalistic. (Wikipaedia)

Blue Morpho belongs to the following groups:
Friends Available for sale asGreeting Cards and Matted Prints

mekea
Beautiful capture my friend!! :)) Wonderful blues!!
Braedene replied
Thank you Mekea – gosh you were quick. I was so excited to see them in the wild. I did get a shot of a banana owl butterfly in the wild but the morphos didn’t hang around !!
Samantha Dean
Absolutely beautiful Liz!!! Wonderful capture and they look excellent on the card!! Well done my friend!! :-)
Braedene replied
Thank you so Much. I wish I could have avoided the red dish the food was on though!!
louisegreen
Lovely & thanks for the info on them Liz. The card does look great.
Braedene replied
Thank you Louise. Always wanted to see one in the wild. Actually I tend to make that a goal with as many animals/creatures as I can- to see them in their natural habitat. Not that we don’t require zoos etc as many of the species would be dying out without the dedicated care of well kept zoos.
Al Bourassa
Awesome shot Liz.
Braedene replied
Thank you Al – The guide told us we were lucky to see them where we were in the jungle not only on one day but two days!!
Cora Wandel
Liz, a fascinating image, beautifully shot, and a nicely written commentary. – Cora
Braedene replied
Oh Cora – thank you so much and thank you for featuring this beautiful butterfly. Their size was amazing, although the banana owl b’fly was pretty big too.
Cora Wandel
Braedene replied
Thank you Cora – so appreciate this. It’s even more stunning to actually see . The wings are sucha gorgeous shade of turquoise blue. I think this one is a female as the males have even more blue on them.
Snapshot20
Wow! Soooo gorgeous!
Amazing that you found one!
Did you see the movie about the blue butterfly?
Braedene replied
Thank you very much – I almost fell off my horse. There were two each time – I assumed male and female because one had much more blue on the wings. Think the one here is a female. Didn’t see the film – when was it on?
ienemien
BEAUTIFUL…. I love the Blue Morphe…they are so difficult to make a photo… its really a challenge to try… visit many times The Butterfly Valley, the greatest in Europe and so close to my house… Love it… bye ien
Braedene replied
Ien, you are so lucky to be so close to the Butterfly Valley. We have Butterfly places in Scotland but they don’t have all the exotic species. Very difficult to catch in the wild – they never stopped long enough to take a photo. Thank you so much for your lovely comment. Liz
Lisa Jones
Beautiful work Liz!
Braedene replied
Thank you Lisa
Yool
Amazing capture !!!!
Braedene replied
Thank you so much – isn’t the colour amazing?
FelicityB
Beautiful, and congrats on the feature!!
Braedene replied
Aw Thank you Felicity – much appreciated. Liz
Nancy Chambers
This is so beautiful….congrats on your well deserved feature. :)
Braedene replied
Thank you very much Nancy – loved the excitement of seeing them first in the wild.
Laurie Puglia
wow. this is really amazing liz :) great colors here and liking the explanation to the right. laurie
Braedene replied
Thank you Laurie – it is a huge butterfly.
Dawne Olson
Such a terrific image! Reminded me right away of a movie I saw… congrats on your feature!!
Braedene replied
Thank you so much Dawne – Snapshot mentioned that but I haven’t seen the film.
Carol Barona
wow, stunning! this is beautiful!
Braedene replied
Thank you Carol – it is a beautiful colour.
Julie Marks
This is exquisite. I love the vibrant color and details of this stunning butterfly that looks like a beautiful abstract painting. Outstanding work!!
Braedene replied
Oh Julie , thank you very much- what a lovely comment.
handprintz
Beautifully captured Liz,lovely vibrant colours
Braedene replied
Thank you Trudi – they are beautiful butterflies and so big.
Joanne Bradley
Absolutely lovely shot with great detail! I have seen these butterflies at the Montreal Botanical Gardens during their Butterflies are free exhibition, that you have captured them in their natural setting is amazing! Congrats on ImageWriting feature!
Braedene replied
Thank you very much Joanne – they are so beautiful and apart from the riding of course so wanted to see them .
connieinwi
Gorgeous Capture!
Braedene replied
Thank you very much Connie -
linda858100
LOVELY
Braedene replied
Thank you Linda – I appreciate you looking in. Liz
Ginger Barritt
Oh, I love it!!!! Simply beautiful!!1
Braedene replied
Thank you very much Ginger – was a highlight to see them in the jungle.
Barbara Brown
Lovely color and detail. Great shot.
Braedene replied
I was so excited at seeing 4 in the jungle when I was riding through it. They are a beautiful, very large butterfly. Thank you. Liz
artist4peace
fab fab fab!
Braedene replied
Thank you very much again.
Cheri Bouvier
Just stunning!!! Love it…
Braedene replied
Thank you Cheri – so pretty and so big!!