Caterpillar genders

[Kenelm Philip]

	The sex of butterflies is normally determined at conception: a cell
with two X chromosomes is male, one with one X chromosome is female. How-
ever, during subsequent cell division an X chromosome can sometimes get
lost--resulting in gynandromorphs: butterflies which are part male and part
female.

	In most cases, it's safe to say that an egg, a caterpillar, or a
pupa is male or female--and will yield an adult of the same sex. (And I
doubt there is much to be gained by using the PC term 'gender' in this
context.)

							Ken Philip
fnkwp at uaf.edu