Eastern Tailed-Blue Who's Gray

Here's an Eastern Tailed-Blue butterfly that's gray (aka grey).

Is this butterfly diseased? Is it a mutant? With superpowers? Does it have chameleon-like abilities?

No, no, none we know about, and no.

This is a female Eastern Tailed-Blue, and all of them are gray. For good or ill, we name many species based on their appearance even when sexual dimorphism occurs. This typically means we name a species after the appearance of the more eye-catching of the sexes, which (especially in birds) usually means they're named after the male. (It's possible that some misogyny also influenced this naming convention.)

September 14, 2021 at Duke Farms
Photo 168279967, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


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