Wing venation abnormalities in the black-veined white Aporia crataegi L. (Lepidoptera, Pieridae): insight in terms of the modern phenetics
Patterns of wing venation abnormalities appearance in the black-veined white ( Aporia crataegi L.) were studied. It was shown that these abnormalities form four types of bilateral compositions and quantitatively vary in their degree of the phenotypic expression. This implies that wing venation abnormalities of the black-veined white butterﬂy can be considered as stable states of threshold nonmetric traits with hidden quantitative variability, i. e., «phenes». Patterns of various wing venation abnormalities appearance vary. Diﬀerent abnormalities demonstrate a trend to joint occurrence in one individual or occur independently from each other. Some abnormalities appear mainly asymmetrically, randomly, and independently in diﬀerent body sides, while others display the trend to symmetrical occurrence. Only the wing venation abnormalities that appear independently from each other, randomly and independently in diﬀerent body sides can be considered as random developmental errors and as indicators of developmental instability. Such abnormalities are rare and make up less than 20% of the total number of abnormalities.