Morpho peleides By Matt Young February 14, 2022 12:00 MST Photograph by Mark Sturtevant. Photography contest, Honorable Mention. Morpho peleides – an old morpho butterfly sits out its final days in a local butterfly house. The iridescent blue color is not due to pigment, but is rather a structural color caused by wave interference of light that is reflected from the scales on the upper wing surface.