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10 Striking Photos Of Half-Male, Half-Female Butterflies
10 Striking Photos Of Half-Male, Half-Female Butterflies
Harrison JacobsJun 10, 2014, 00:43 IST
James K. Adams, Professor of Biology, Dalton State College Nature contains some jaw-dropping anomalies, including the gynandromorph - an organism with both male and female characteristics. While gynandromorphism can occur in crustaceans, birds, and many insects, it manifests itself most beautifully in butterflies.The phenomenon is exceptionally rare in butterflies, estimated to occur in about one in every 10,000, or 0.01%. It is so rare that Luke Brown, the expert lepidopterist at London's Natural History Museum, has only ever seen three in his entire career. Despite their rarity, Dr. Andrew D. Warren, the senior collections manager at the Florida Museum of Natural History, has assembled an extensive collection on gynandromorphs on his website, Butterflies of America, which he has shared with us here.
Gynandromorphs are organisms that are divided between male and female parts. It is so striking in butterflies because it results in a butterfly that has distinctly different patterns and coloration on the wings.