Belize Butterflies on the Road: Chaa Creek visits school
As part of our commitment at The Lodge at Chaa Creek is to work with our local communities in building awareness and educating our local people on conservation and preservation of our natural environment. And in that respect, as part of our community outreach program, today saw our “Butterfly on the Road” Program when two of our Naturalist Guides packed up their equipment and visited the Sacred Heart Primary School in San Ignacio Town. A total of 110 local students in the infant division had the opportunity to learn more about one of the most magnificent butterflies in Belize, the “Blue Morpho” or the Morpho Peleides, and butterflies in general, along with the significant roles that butterflies play in our eco-system.
The 110 boys and girls were all thrilled to have had this great learning experience, which gave them the opportunity to learn the complete life cycle of a butterfly. They also learned the importance of butterflies in our environment; how they contribute and how they adapt to the environment. Our naturalist guides also thought them about what humans can do to protect butterflies in our environment.
According to research, the blue morpho butterflies are not true blue. They have overlapping scales covering their wings and the scales on the wing tops have tiny ridges that reflect blue light. The underside of their wings are brown. When they are at rest, you will see that they are brown with their wings folded up.
When rested and showing their brown wings, they are perfectly camouflaged from their predators like large insects and birds.
