Found Before I Found it - _TNY_0241
The females of the common mormon (Papilio polytes) come in several different flavours as they mimic different unpalatable butterflies as a way to avoid predation (plus a form which looks like the female so this: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53547269736/ could bbe either a male or a female).
The one in this shot is a Papilio polytes f. polytes) which mimics a species known as the common rose (Pachliopta aristolochiae).
The genetics behind which form the offspring ends up as turned out to be equally interesting and complex and if you want to read more about it, have a look here: www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/the-supergene-...
I got a couple of shots of this form now in 2024 and found it interesting - and a couple of days ago, I was looking through some old shots from a visit to the butterfly house in 2017 when I realised I had shot it back then already without konowing what it was. I'm trying to look at it like I have managed to learn some things over the years.
Found Before I Found it - _TNY_0241
The females of the common mormon (Papilio polytes) come in several different flavours as they mimic different unpalatable butterflies as a way to avoid predation (plus a form which looks like the female so this: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53547269736/ could bbe either a male or a female).
The one in this shot is a Papilio polytes f. polytes) which mimics a species known as the common rose (Pachliopta aristolochiae).
The genetics behind which form the offspring ends up as turned out to be equally interesting and complex and if you want to read more about it, have a look here: www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/the-supergene-...
I got a couple of shots of this form now in 2024 and found it interesting - and a couple of days ago, I was looking through some old shots from a visit to the butterfly house in 2017 when I realised I had shot it back then already without konowing what it was. I'm trying to look at it like I have managed to learn some things over the years.