These photos were taken a few days ago by my friend Tim Cowles who lives in Lyon. He managed to get photos of the underside from both sides, to further illustrate the differences on both surfaces.
I don’t know how rare this phenomenon is, but I have never seen one in many decades of butterfly-watching. I do have a vague recollection of a gynandromorph Silver-studded Blue on UKB some time ago.
The raised abdomen seems more indicative of a female pose although the shape suggests male.
What actually happens to cause such genetic mutations? This may be a rather rhetorical question, perhaps quite topical given the ability of viruses to mutate. I know very little about the subject (as my comments demonstrate), but the evolution of prokaryotes into eukaryotes appears to be a result of an incredibly rare freak mutation that happened only once in a billion years or so. Which led eventually to complex organisms like us posting on UK Butterflies. No wonder that SETI and the like are still searching.
Roger
Gynandromorph – Common Blue
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Re: Gynandromorph – Common Blue
That's superb, Roger! In insects, the fertilised egg splits, with one of the daughter cells responsible for the left of the body, and the other the right. If there's an error in this division, then you can end up with gynandromorphs like this one!
More at: https://www.dispar.org/reference.php?id=17
Cheers,
- Pete
More at: https://www.dispar.org/reference.php?id=17
Cheers,
- Pete
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Re: Gynandromorph – Common Blue
A remarkable butterfly - though I must say such images always make me a little sad, as the poor creature is unlikely to mate and reproduce successfully.
In answer to your more general question about mutations (though gynandromorphs, as Pete says, are not actually the result of mutation), I think it is wrong to think of them purely in terms of throws of the dice, randomly chucking out wonderful things. The tendency to mutate (and to shuffle genes), particularly in certain domains of a creature's genome, is itself a desirable thing, and selected for. I would suggest the move from prokaryotes to eukaryotes was an entirely natural and predictable progression (I don't mean it wasn't wonderful and miraculous - I find all of nature wonderful and miraculous!). It is generally understood to have arisen by symbiosis - that soft spot between ingestion and parasitism! In origin, on this theory, eukaryotes are prokaryotes with other prokaryotes inside them, such that the encloser offers the enclosed protection, while the enclosed offers the encloser metabolic advantages.
For what it's worth, I am confident SETI &c. will eventually find what they are looking for. I used to get a great thrill from being part of the SETI at home project. Haven't heard about that recently ...
Guy
In answer to your more general question about mutations (though gynandromorphs, as Pete says, are not actually the result of mutation), I think it is wrong to think of them purely in terms of throws of the dice, randomly chucking out wonderful things. The tendency to mutate (and to shuffle genes), particularly in certain domains of a creature's genome, is itself a desirable thing, and selected for. I would suggest the move from prokaryotes to eukaryotes was an entirely natural and predictable progression (I don't mean it wasn't wonderful and miraculous - I find all of nature wonderful and miraculous!). It is generally understood to have arisen by symbiosis - that soft spot between ingestion and parasitism! In origin, on this theory, eukaryotes are prokaryotes with other prokaryotes inside them, such that the encloser offers the enclosed protection, while the enclosed offers the encloser metabolic advantages.
For what it's worth, I am confident SETI &c. will eventually find what they are looking for. I used to get a great thrill from being part of the SETI at home project. Haven't heard about that recently ...
Guy
Guy's Butterflies: https://www.guypadfield.com
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Re: Gynandromorph – Common Blue
Nor me, Roger, and what I wouldn't give to chance across a specimen as breathtaking as that!!Roger Gibbons wrote: ↑Sat May 15, 2021 10:44 am...I don’t know how rare this phenomenon is, but I have never seen one in many decades of butterfly-watching.
Maybe one day.....