Memphis moruus is a species of leafwing found in South America.
Subspecies Memphis moruus moruus; present in Brazil and French Guiana. Memphis moruus boisduvali Comstock, W. P. 1961. Butterflies of the American Tropics: the genus Anaea. Lepidop tera, Nymphalidae. New York: Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 214pp, 30pl. Memphis moruus leonila (Comstock, 1961); present in Ecuador. Memphis moruus morpheus (Staudinger, ) Staudinger, O, 1886 Exotische schmetterlinge Fürth, V.G. Löwensohn, 1888-1892 present in Brazil. Memphis moruus phila (Druce, 1877) Druce, H. 1877 A revision of the lepidopterous genus Paphia Proc. zool. Soc. Lond. 1877 (3) : 632-652, pl. 61-64 present in Colombia and Ecuador. Memphis moruus stheno (Prittwitz, 1865) Prittwitz, Otto von 1865 Beitrag zur Fauna des Coreovado Stettin Ent. Ztg 26 (4-6): 123-143, (10-12): 307-325 present in Brazil. * D'Abrera, B. 1988. Butterflies of the Neotropical Region, Nymphalidae, Satyridae. Victoria: Hill House. Pp. 680-723.; present in Mexico, Guatemala, and Panama.
Description Memphis moruus has forewings with a pointed apex and a concave outer edge, and hindwings with a tail. The upper part is metallic blue with a lighter basal part and a darker navy blue to brown distal part. The underside is light brown and simulates a dead leaf.Julius Rober ANAEA in Seitz.A. Band 5: Abt. 2, Die exotischen Großschmetterlinge, Die Großschmetterlinge des amerikanischen Faunengebietes, 1907 580 et seq.
Biology The host plants of its caterpillar are Nectandra (Lauraceae) for Memphis moruus boisduvali.
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