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Post by cabintom on Feb 24, 2020 17:49:22 GMT
Any ideas on what's going on here? I don't believe it's a gynandromorph. The species is Acraea buettneri.
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Post by trehopr1 on Feb 24, 2020 22:38:39 GMT
I think what you have here is an asymmetrical example occurring in this species of butterfly. I have seen this occur in the North American monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) and the cosmopolitan butterfly (Vanessa cardui).
This condition is only occasionally seen amongst butterflies. I do not know the specifics of what causes it however, the sex of the butterfly is male or it is female but, 1 side of the butterfly is much reduced whilst the other side is of normal size and shape.
Perhaps someone else can give you an idea of the specifics that cause this. I would be interested to know myself as I have not done any readings about it.
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Post by Adam Cotton on Feb 25, 2020 8:42:57 GMT
This is almost certainly caused by a deformity when the pupa formed. The wing cases on one side did not enlarge completely and as a result the wings on that side became smaller. This happens occasionally with butterflies I breed, usually causing a misshapen wing, but sonetimes the whole pair of wings on one side can be smaller than usual. Note also that both antennae are not normal, again due to malformed antennal sheath on the pupa. Often such deformities cannot fly, so usually they just aren't seen in the wild.
Adam.
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