Tag: butterfly

sixpenceee:

The following is a rare half male and half female butterfly. The butterfly was determined to be a Lexias pardalis, and its condition is called bilateral gynandromorphy. Gynandromorphism is most frequently noticed in bird and butterfly species where the two sexes have very different coloration. (Source)

Gynandromorphs are chimeras, i.e. two different sets of genetics in one animal. They usually happen when a set of non-identical twins, or members of a larger litter, fuse in the womb. It happens in egg-born animals when two fertilized egg cells end up encased in the same egg and fuse due to the lack of space. They’re probably more common than we think, but chimeras are impossible to detect without testing every inch of a creature’s body for DNA, inside and out. Gynandromorphs like this one are often more obvious, but, in animals (say, fish) with minimal sexual dimorphism, often go unnoticed. Chicken gynandromorphs are particularly neat to see, they have the fluffy rooster hackles on just one side, and a thick leg and spur on that side.