"M. hecuba is the largest known Morpho and one may also call it the most interesting, on account of its habits, its susceptibility to climatic influences and its tendency to develop polychromatic forms in both sexes.

Hahnel calls it the king of the forest, and says that it traverses a wider area than any other butterfly, travelling perhaps 30 km.

or more in two or three hours, continuous flight in quest of its mate, which it follows persistently for whole days, quite alone, over woods and water-courses.

Sometimes it happens that one of these apparently quietly hovering forms suddenly darts head downwards, and in this event it seems only to rise again with difficulty.

They are driven to these violent erratic movements by dragon-flies, which lie in wait for them especially in marshy places and molest them from the tips of dry twigs, apparently more out of wantonness than from a desire to catch them.