Post by trehopr1 on Jul 5, 2017 6:13:43 GMT
The other day I returned from an all too brief collecting trip of two days. During that time I managed to secure 4 pretty nice male examples of the Spicebush swallowtail (Papilio troilus) and 3 females. I immediately set about spreading them and in the process came across one of the females with an odd if not strangely "color faded" region on it's right hind wing. This faded region includes the tail and expands inward the wing so that the sum total area is the size of a quarter.
Now I would only call the look of it as being "mildly faded" but, noticeable. Nothing extreme. The specimen is typical size for the female of the species. The wing is not asymmetrical. The markings are all there and symmetrical with the opposing hind wing.
So, my question is what causes such a unusual occurance like this ? Has anyone else ever encountered such a specimen ? The rest of the color on the wings is correct and reasonably dark for a specimen no older than a day or two.
I presume that something either genetically went mildly wrong in this specimens development or temperature may have played a role somehow. Just curious and looking for some facts or credible hypotheses .
Now I would only call the look of it as being "mildly faded" but, noticeable. Nothing extreme. The specimen is typical size for the female of the species. The wing is not asymmetrical. The markings are all there and symmetrical with the opposing hind wing.
So, my question is what causes such a unusual occurance like this ? Has anyone else ever encountered such a specimen ? The rest of the color on the wings is correct and reasonably dark for a specimen no older than a day or two.
I presume that something either genetically went mildly wrong in this specimens development or temperature may have played a role somehow. Just curious and looking for some facts or credible hypotheses .
