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Post by Adam Cotton on Jul 3, 2015 21:24:03 GMT
Every so often I get a rather unusual problem with my Papilio memnon livestock. I breed large numbers of this species, and mostly everything is fine, but from time to time (sometimes several months between occurrences, and sometimes several within a few days, and in separate breeding stock) I find specimens with a strange deformity/disease(?) and would like to know if anyone has come across this beforeand whether anyone knows the cause. The first obvious signs appear as the pupa colours up. The symptoms always appear at the base of one or both forewings, as can be seen in this photo here: Instead of the usual dark colour there is a creamy patch on the pupa, which spreads part of the way down the wing and can also be seen in the thoracic area on the back of the pupa. This patch can vary in size from quite small to more than half of the forewing and across the back of the pupa and onto the opposite forewing.
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Post by Adam Cotton on Jul 3, 2015 21:27:31 GMT
Here are photos of the adult that emerged from the pupa:
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Post by Adam Cotton on Jul 3, 2015 21:36:34 GMT
Here's the upperside: As you can see from the above photos, the affected parts of the wing and body are bald. Apart from this, the butterfly is healthy and strong (this one was released in my garden) except that the bald part of the wing does appear to be structurally weaker than the rest of the wings. I have never noticed this anomaly in other species I am breeding, and it doesn't appear to be seasonal, as it occurs any time of year. It could be a genetic problem that occurs from time to time in my breeding stock, or it could be some sort of disease. It could also be environmental, but if that were the case I would expect many more pupae to be affected at the same time. Usually there are not more than one or two pupae like this at the same time, and sometimes I don't see any affected specimens for several weeks or more. I would appreciate any thoughts as to the possible cause, and any similar experiences anyone may have had before. Adam.
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