Morpho laertes

Morpho laertes
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Genus: Morpho
Species: M. laertes
Binomial name
Morpho laertes
(Drury, 1782)
Synonyms
  • Papilio laertes Drury, 1782
  • Papilio epistrophus Fabricius, 1796
  • Morpho eristrophis Hübner, 1816/24
  • Morpho laertes eutropius Fruhstorfer, 1912
  • Morpho laertes nikolajewna Weber, 1951

Morpho laertes is a Neotropical butterfly.

Taxonomy

When first described in 1782 laertes was placed in the genus Papilio. The specimen was from Brasilia. It is a valid name in The Global Lepidoptera Names Index.[1]

Currently it is placed in the subgenus pessonia (Le Moult & Réal 1962) of genus Morpho, along with the closely related species Morpho catenarius (Perry, 1811), Morpho luna (Butler), Morpho polyphemus (Dixey), and Morpho titei (Drury, 1770). It is now considered a junior synonym of Morpho epistrophus.

Etymology

The name comes from Laërtes, a figure in Greek mythology.

Sources

References

  1. "The Global Lepidoptera Names Index". Natural History Museum (London). Retrieved 22 April 2012.

External links


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