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prettygoodwordmorpho (MAWR-foh) - n., any of several large tropical American butterflies (genus Morpho) with upper wings of bright, iridescent blue and undersides of of brown or gray with eye-spots.
Which understates just how SHOWY these beauties are, and their large wingspans (some are up to 20cm) their flights are erratic and all the more showy. The brighter species are sexual dimorphic, with the males much brighter and females almost camouflage drab -- others, male and females are closer in appearance. The name (first seen in 1853) is from an epithet of Aphrodite, MorphÅ, meaning something like "the shapely one" (so root sense of shape/body rather than change).
---L.
Which understates just how SHOWY these beauties are, and their large wingspans (some are up to 20cm) their flights are erratic and all the more showy. The brighter species are sexual dimorphic, with the males much brighter and females almost camouflage drab -- others, male and females are closer in appearance. The name (first seen in 1853) is from an epithet of Aphrodite, MorphÅ, meaning something like "the shapely one" (so root sense of shape/body rather than change).
---L.
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Date: 2016-02-26 10:14 pm (UTC)