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Half-Female, Half-Male Butterfly Born In London's Natural History Museum

Butterfly

First Posted: 07/12/11 12:41 PM ET Updated: 09/11/11 06:12 AM ET

Is this Madame Or Monsieur Butterfly?

A rare half-female, half-male hatched from its cocoon at London's Natural History Museum, stunning researchers there.

The androgynous mormon butterfly is almost evenly split down the middle between its male and female sides, the BBC reported.

The wing of the male side is darker, while the female wing is more colorful. The reproductive organs were "fused down the middle," the Guardian reported.

Curators at the Sensational Butterflies exhibit, where the butterfly was born two weeks ago, noticed that one antennae is longer than the other too.

Spectators will have to rush to catch a glimpse, because the butterfly's lifespan is only a month.

Known as gynandromorphs, only 0.01 percent of insects have dual sex traits like this, the Guardian said.

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Is this Madame Or Monsieur Butterfly? A rare half-female, half-male hatched from its cocoon at London's Natural History Museum, stunning researchers there. The androgynous mormon butterfly is ...
Is this Madame Or Monsieur Butterfly? A rare half-female, half-male hatched from its cocoon at London's Natural History Museum, stunning researchers there. The androgynous mormon butterfly is ...
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