| 释义 |
morpho|ˈmɔːfəʊ|
[mod.L. (J. C. Fabricius 1807, in Magazin für Insectenkunde VI. 280), f. Gr. Μορϕώ, an epithet of Aphrodite.]
A large South American butterfly of the genus so called, often with shiny blue wings. Also attrib.
1853A. R. Wallace Travels on Amazon 14 Among them [sc. the butterflies] were..three Morphos, those splendid large metallic-blue butterflies which are always first noticed by travellers in South America. 1863H. W. Bates Naturalist on River Amazons I. 103 The splendid metallic blue Morphos..are generally confined to the shady alleys of the forest. 1925Glasgow Herald 1 Aug. 4/2 In the parapet of a fine staircase in one of the Oxford colleges there is a piece of Labradorite with a bewitching blue colour that recalls the tail of a peacock and the wing of a Morpho butterfly. 1926Ibid. 12 June 4 A morpho may have a million and a half scales on its four great wings. 1969E. Bishop Compl. Poems 210 Oil..like bits of mirror—no, more blue than that: Like tatters of the Morpho butterfly. 1973Sci. Amer. Dec. 67/2 Only here [sc. in the tropical rain forest] are found such insects as the brilliant blue morpho butterfly of tropical America. |