Fluttering Both Ways: Thanks to a Genetic Anomaly These Butterflies Have Male and Female Wings
Bilateral gynandromorphism is a condition where an animal or insect contains both male and female characteristics. This is caused when the sex chromosomes fail to separate during mitosis/fertilization.
Although it is one of natures rarest phenomena with only 0.01 per cent of hatching butterflies being born as gynandromorph, this condition is visually striking and can be easily spotted in most butterflies by the perfect division between the two halves of the body:
(Above) The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly.
I was wondering how other creatures of the same genus react to these unique anomalies. The butterfly above unfortunately died shortly after the photo was taken because it didn’t have a long enough proboscis. For the ones that live long enough however; my guess would be that pheromones play a role in determining attraction on a non-visual level. But I’m no expert. For more info on gynandromorpism, checkout sciencesnaps.com
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