Objective:

To report the butterflies of the Morphini tribe in the Entomology Collection of the Natural History Museum of Universidad de Cauca (MHN-Unicauca) (Popayan, Colombia).

Scope:

To publish a list of species, and carry out museological, biological and natural history analyses about the tribe Morphini in the Entomological Collection of MHN-Unicauca.

Methodology:

The Entomological Collection of MHN-Unicauca was reviewed to identify the species of the Morphini tribe and to carry out descriptive analyses on museological themes and an analysis of the quality of the inventory found.

Main results:

A total of 117 specimens of butterflies of the Morphini tribe of the Entomology Collection of MHN-Unicauca (Popayan, Colombia), belonging to three species of the genera Antirrhea Hübner, [1822], one species of Caerois Hübner, [1819] and seven species (12 subspecies) of Morpho Fabricius [1807], were examined.

Conclusions:

The 117 specimens examined belonged to 16 subspecies, the most abundant being M. helenor rugitaeniatus with 39 specimens. However, statistical analyses indicate that possibly 39.08 subspecies can be found for the area which would be explained by the great complexity of the area of influence of the MHN-Unicauca. This analysis allows defining the Morphini tribe as a group with great study potential.

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