Meet the extremely rare “half male,” “half female” butterfly that was found in Hertfordshire. The Gynandromorph “Great Mormon (Papilio Memnon)” butterfly was discovered at Butterfly World in St. Albans.
Butterfly World said this natural phenomenon occurs in only one in 10,000 or 0.01% of butterflies. Louise Hawkins, a lepidopterist at the centre, said this happens very early on n the development of a butterfly when the sex chromosomes don’t divide properly.
It makes these beautiful butterflies infertile and they tend to have a shorter life span.
A Gynandromorph is an organism that contains both male and female characteristics. Gynandromorph is most frequently recognized in organisms that have strong sexual dimorphism such as butterflies, spiders, and birds.
