Blue Monarch Butterfly
Description
There are almost 20,000 butterfly species, most butterflies live for only few weeks. They often have brightly colored wings, those wings are transparent. They get their essential nutrients by drinking from mud puddles. They are unable to fly at cold temperatures. They see lots of ultraviolet colors invisible to the human eye. They taste from their feet. Butterflies feed only on liquids, A newly emerged butterfly can't fly because their wings are not strong enough to fly. Once its wings reach their full size the butterfly must test for few hours to allow its body to dry and harden before it can fly. Butterflies have the ability to blend into their surrounding using their wings to protect them selves from predators and some predators think bright colored insects are toxic so they learn to avoid them. Butterflies are very beneficial to humans because they are central pollinators to many agricultural crops. And butterflies play an important role in the food chain because they are a food resource to many predators like birds, spiders, lizards and other animals. Butterflies are very attractive, because of that in art, butterflies are a symbol transition, celebration and happiness.
Blue Monarch Butterfly
Blue Monarch Butterfly is the world's most beautiful Butterfly, They are one of the 30 species of butterflies in the subfamily Morphinae. measuring around 6 inches long and wing span is approximately 12cm, They have multiple predator defenses such as camouflage and when they are threatened they emit a strong odor from a gland on their front legs that functions as another way to repel predators. Only the Male are blue in color. Their color is not a result of pigmentation, It is caused by the light reflects off the microscopic scales on its wings. Blue Monarch Butterflies loves light so they can mostly be seen in sunny places. They have helped to inspire human technology because of their light reflecting abilities. The Blue Monarch butterfly's coloring is so bright that they can be seen from a plane. They have a slow and floppy flight pattern, Their diet is also varied they feed on tree sap, juices of ripe or rotten fruit, or some other substances. Blue Monarch butterflies play an important role in the mythology of native Amazon tribes.
Classification
Scientific name - Morpho menelaus.
Order - Lepidoptera
Family - Nymphalidae
Kingdom - Animalia
Class - Insecta
Phylum - Arthropoda
Genus - Morpho
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Distribution
Blue Monarch Butterflies live in the tropical forests of Latin America from Mexico to Colombia.
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As all butterflies, Blue Monarch Butterflies also pass through the 4 stages of metamorphosis. Their take 12-16 days to hatch, after hatching a hairy brown caterpillar comes out, they feed on a variety of leguminous plants, if they are threated Blue Monarch caterpillars secrete a fluid, After a while it wraps itself in a protective enclosure called a cocoon, After some time, a gorgeous butterfly emerges from its cocoon. The entire life cycle of the Blue Monarch Butterfly from egg to death, is approximately 137 days.
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They have few predators as they are poisonous to eat but they face many threats in their rain forest home, even though they are not directly endangered, like many Amazon species they are threatened by deforestation, their beauty also makes them a target for those who wanting to capture them for artistic purposes and even to make jewelry, if you want to keep the beauty of the nature please try not to hurt these poor innocent creatures.
