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bardofely
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 Post subject: Monarch showing melanism |
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If the Monarchs which are currently hatching out from the eleven chrysalises I have here one female that emerged today is showing melanism, which means that more black colouration is exhibited than is usual. You can see that her front wings are very dark.
It would be possible to produce mainly black-winged butterflies if selective breeding could be done with other melanistic Monarchs. Not much chance of that though because any ones in this area are now going to have a shortage of food plants on which to lay!
Normal colouration
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Thu Aug 21, 2008 5:22 pm
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andyfowles
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Superb photos yet again Bard.
Thanks for the explanation of 'melanism' without which it could have meant anything  but with the explanation and the other photo I could see exactly what you meant.
It's almost as thought the black is blurred or out of focus
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Thu Aug 21, 2008 9:59 pm
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bardofely
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| andyfowles wrote: | Superb photos yet again Bard.
Thanks for the explanation of 'melanism' without which it could have meant anything but with the explanation and the other photo I could see exactly what you meant.
It's almost as thought the black is blurred or out of focus |
Its the opposite of albino where there is too much lack of pigment, in melanism it is too much black. Butterflies and moths have millions of tiny scales on their wings which make the designs and colours we see. In this case there are more black ones than usual.
In the UK and elsewhere there is a phenomenon known as Industrial Melanism in which certain moths that would normally have pale wings of a greyish colour are a much blacker colouration so they are camouflaged when resting on soot covered walls and tree trunks in the dirty parts of cities. The theory is that birds and other predators catch and eat the normal coloured ones so the number of melanistic ones increases. The Peppered Moth is a common species that produces industrial melanism a lot.
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Thu Aug 21, 2008 10:17 pm
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andyfowles
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| bardofely wrote: | | .......Industrial Melanism............. |
That's actually quite sad when you think about it, but damn clever
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Fri Aug 22, 2008 9:53 pm
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bardofely
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| andyfowles wrote: | | bardofely wrote: | | .......Industrial Melanism............. |
That's actually quite sad when you think about it, but damn clever |
BTW the female should have broader black veins than the male but the one in the photo has it extending over the red part.
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Sat Aug 23, 2008 8:20 am
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