''Morpho rhodopteron'' is a

Neotropical The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In bioge ...

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

known only from the

Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (English: ''Snow-Covered Mountain Range of Saint Martha'') is an isolated mountain range in northern Colombia, separate from the Andes range that runs through the north of the country. Reaching an elevation of ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

. With a wingspan of 7.5 cm (3 in). It is the smallest species in the genus ''Morpho''.

References

*Godman, Du Cane F. and Salvin, O. (1880) A List of Diurnal Lepidoptera collected in the Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta, Colombia, and the Vicinity ''Transactions of the

Entomological Society of London The Royal Entomological Society is devoted to the study of insects. Its aims are to disseminate information about insects and improving communication between entomologists. The society was founded in 1833 as the Entomological Society of London ...

'' Volume 28: 119–154. *Le Moult, E. & Réal, P. (1962–1963) ''Les Morpho d'Amérique du Sud et Centrale'' Editions du cabinet entomologique E. Le Moult, Paris.

External links

Butterflies of America
Images of type
"''Morpho'' Fabricius, 1807"
at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms'' Morpho Nymphalidae of South America Butterflies described in 1880 Endemic fauna of Colombia Taxa named by Frederick DuCane Godman Taxa named by Osbert Salvin {{Morphinae-stub