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Post by Adam Cotton on May 22, 2015 19:55:01 GMT
Here's something that is even more rarely seen than a gynandromorph adult butterfly ... a gynandromorph pupa before emergence. The left side in the photo is male - all dark, whereas the right side is female and a white form as well. You can clearly see the pale colour both on the forewing and hindwing edge on the female side. I am looking forward to this pupa emerging tomorrow night (it is currently in the fridge along with the other pupae that would normally emerge in the morning but I delay emergence of my pupae so I can control them, ensuring they emerge in the evening and can be fully dried during the night and collected without them flying around and getting damaged). Adam.
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Post by Adam Cotton on May 22, 2015 22:19:04 GMT
I forgot to mention that the pupa is Papilio memnon agenor.
Adam.
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steve
Junior Aurelian
Posts: 53
Country: Australia
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Post by steve on May 22, 2015 23:22:02 GMT
Looking forward to seeing that !
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Post by cabintom on May 23, 2015 3:05:06 GMT
Wow. (I wish I had something more intelligent to say... this is really cool.)
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Post by africaone on May 23, 2015 6:58:46 GMT
Adam, Do you have a statistic of the occurrence of gynandro in breeding expériences ?
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Post by Adam Cotton on May 23, 2015 8:47:35 GMT
Well, not precisely, but I can say that over many years of breeding I have never actually seen a bilateral gynandromorph before in any of the butterflies I have bred. I did find a single mosaic gynandromorph specimen of Papilio memnon, with part of the upperside of one hindwing female but the whole of the rest of the insect was male, including the underside of the wing with female scales. I also bred a single mosaic gynandromorph of Papilio clytia among thousands of specimens. Both of these have been displayed online before.
I think that gynandromorphism rates do vary from species to species, as it seems that some Cymothoe species are more prone to the mutation than other butterflies, and in Papilio it does seem that gynandromorphs occur more commonly in P. memnon than in many other species. Of course it helps to actually notice them when there is distinct sexual dimorphism. In many species where both sexes look almost identical it may well be that gynandromorphs just aren't noticed when they occur.
Adam.
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steve
Junior Aurelian
Posts: 53
Country: Australia
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Post by steve on May 23, 2015 10:31:53 GMT
Adam, what temperature are they at in the fridge? How long do they stay there?
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Post by africaone on May 23, 2015 12:09:30 GMT
Well, not precisely, but I can say that over many years of breeding I have never actually seen a bilateral gynandromorph before in any of the butterflies I have bred. I did find a single mosaic gynandromorph specimen of Papilio memnon, with part of the upperside of one hindwing female but the whole of the rest of the insect was male, including the underside of the wing with female scales. I also bred a single mosaic gynandromorph of Papilio clytia among thousands of specimens. Both of these have been displayed online before. I think that gynandromorphism rates do vary from species to species, as it seems that some Cymothoe species are more prone to the mutation than other butterflies, and in Papilio it does seem that gynandromorphs occur more commonly in P. memnon than in many other species. Of course it helps to actually notice them when there is distinct sexual dimorphism. In many species where both sexes look almost identical it may well be that gynandromorphs just aren't noticed when they occur. Adam. I had only one by breeding but I don't bred big quantities like other collectors. I seen a lot from breeders (without any statistic made).
The occurrence of so many gynandro in RCA (count a total not far a four-digit number)(not only Cymothoe as often written) is probably due the industrial quantities of butterflies caught there and the ability of hunters to recognise them quickly in big quantities of common things, a pure statistical problem.
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Post by Adam Cotton on May 23, 2015 13:57:37 GMT
The butterfly has emerged and is drying its wings now. Here is a quick snapshot of it (taken in the dark with flash). It really is amazing, especially as the female side is my "super-white" selected strain, not just a normal form. I will post a better photo later. Adam.
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Post by Adam Cotton on May 23, 2015 14:46:14 GMT
Adam, what temperature are they at in the fridge? How long do they stay there? I put the pupae in the fridge when they have coloured up just to the right point, usually sometime after midnight although some pupae colour up earlier and some much later. The way to tell if they are ready or not is to look at the back of the pupa. When the abdomen area changes colour from green or brown to normally black (if the abdomen is coloured you will see the abdomen colour develop) then it is ready to put in the fridge. I separate the pupae that are showing signs of colouring up from those that will not emerge in the evening, the first signs are a distinct softening of the wing cases and a general grey hue instead of the normal bright green or brown. I then check the pupae every hour or so, and as they reach the right stage of development I put them in the fridge. The pupae go into small plastic boxes with a label (so I know what they are), each strain in a separate box, and before closing the box they are sprayed with a puff of water to keep them damp, as the fridge can dessicate pupae. More pupae are added to each box as they develop. The boxes are put into the veggie compartment at the bottom of the fridge. I haven't measured the exact temperature, but it is probably about 6C as I have the thermostat set slightly higher than normal. As long as they don't get really near to freezing they are fine (it is surprising how cold the temperature can drop in the night in the hills even in tropical countries and it doesn't hurt them). They can be safely kept like this for at least 12 hours or more, and I normally take them out of the fridge and put them in emerging cages the next evening at about 7pm when it gets dark here. As soon as the pupae dry out and warm up they will start to emerge, usually within 2 or 3 hours of taking them out of the fridge. Note that it is important that the pupa has not yet started to expand its abdomen prior to emerging when I put it in the fridge. If the abdomen is already distended then it is too late, and the pupa will emerge inside the fridge (and be crippled) regardless of the low temperature. Also it is only possible to delay emergence by about 12-15 hours. If the pupae are left in the fridge for 2 nights they will emerge in the fridge. I do this with often 50+ pupae every night, but normally for Papilio memnon I only put females in the fridge, as I don't need many males. I sex all the pupae each evening, and the male pupae either emerge that night in cages and are released the next day for further breeding, or the pupae I don't need are put out in the garden to emerge there and fly away in the morning. It was while I was sexing the pupae last night that I noticed this gynandromorph pupa. After the pupae have dried their wings completely I can then collect them by torchlight, usually at about 3 or 4 am. I then decide whether I want each butterfly as a specimen, as a parent for further breeding, or is surplus to requirements (usually because there is some natural damage that occurred during emergence). The butterflies that I don't need go straight out of the window to join the natrual population (of course I only release species that occur locally), and the ones that I want to use for further breeding are put into ice-cream tubs and put back into the fridge until the afternoon when I take them to the farm. The adult butterflies will just sit still in the tubs until they are released. Adam.
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Post by Adam Cotton on May 23, 2015 17:19:27 GMT
Well, the end of the drying process was a slight disaster. I had noticed that the butterfly was not behaving normally when I took the previous photo. It was hanging rather oddly, and seemed very weak. I noticed also that it was bleeding from the female side of the head. When I went back to check it again it had fallen to the bottom of the cage and managed to rip a chunk out of the hindwing on the male side. Since the wings were dry I decided to kill it straight away and took a photo to show you all with the ripped piece put in place. I have now spread it, and will repair the hindwing when it is removed from the setting board. I am certain that it would have been incapable of flight judging from its inability to hold itself properly and crawl back up the side of the cage. Obviously there must have been internal problems as well as the visible bilateral gynandromorphism. Interestingly it is not quite 100% bilateral, since the abdomen is completely female. The whole abdomen and genitalia look like a normal female, and there is no sign of a male clasper. Adam.
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Post by wollastoni on May 23, 2015 18:34:41 GMT
What a splendid butterfly, Adam !!! Congrats ! Now I will know that bilateral gynandromorphs with 100% female body can be true ones !
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Post by Adam Cotton on May 23, 2015 19:47:40 GMT
Yes, it's strange, I was expecting the body to be split down the middle, but it isn't. I also found that the mosaic agenor that I bred before was rather strange in that the one hindwing was mostly female on the upperside, but the underside was completely normal male, it seems the gynandromorphism was restricted to the scales on the upperside.
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Post by africaone on May 23, 2015 20:32:24 GMT
Yes, it's strange, I was expecting the body to be split down the middle, but it isn't. I also found that the mosaic agenor that I bred before was rather strange in that the one hindwing was mostly female on the upperside, but the underside was completely normal male, it seems the gynandromorphism was restricted to the scales on the upperside. I have a such gynandro in which only the verso surface of one forewing is female §the recto being like the rest of the moth) then a kind of 1/8 gynandro. very strange.
On another side thanks for sharing a such experience Adam, a great moment
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