Erythrism Explained

Erythrism or erythrochroism refers to an unusual reddish pigmentation of an animal's hair, skin, feathers, or eggshells.

Causes of erythrism include:

• Genetic mutations which cause an absence of a normal pigment and/or excessive production of others
• Diet, as in bees feeding on "bright red corn syrup" used in maraschino cherry manufacturing.^[1]

Erythrism in katydids has been occasionally observed. The coloring might be a camouflage that helps some members of the species survive on red plants. There is also consensus that the erythristic mutation is actually a dominant trait among katydid species, albeit a disadvantageous one, due to the overwhelmingly green coloration of most foliage. Hence, most pink or otherwise vividly colored katydids do not survive to adulthood, and this observation explains their rarity.^[2] Erythrism in leopards is rare, but one study^[3] reported that two of twenty-eight leopards seen in camera traps in a South African nature reserve were erythristic, and the authors found records of five other "strawberry" leopards from the region.^[4]

See also

• Albinism
• Amelanism
• Dyschromia
• Heterochromia iridum
• Leucism
• Melanism
• Piebaldism
• Red hair
• Vitiligo
• Xanthochromism

External links

• The Mystery of the Red Bees of Red Hook, The New York Times, November 30, 2010
• Rare Pink Katydid Discovered in Northern Illinois, Chicago Tribune, August 10, 2011
• Another Nice Example of Erythrism: Grasshopper, August 28, 2009
• Erythrism: Grasshopper in New Zealand, Rod Morris, 2010
• Pink Animal Amazingness, Paula Kashtan, lemondrop.com, December 18, 2008

Notes and References

1. Schmidt . Sarah . December 1, 2010 . Helping Brooklyn's Red Stingers Get Off The Juice . . https://web.archive.org/web/20101224072819/http://www.onearth.org/article/helping-brooklyns-red-stingers-get-off-the-juice . December 24, 2010.
2. Book: Stone, Daniel. Easier Being Green. March 2013. National Geographic. 19.
3. Pirie. Tara J.. Thomas. Rebecca L.. Fellowes. Mark D. E.. 2016-05-20. Erythristic leopards Panthera pardus in South Africa. Bothalia. en. 46. 1. 5. 10.4102/abc.v46i1.2034. 2311-9284. free.
4. Web site: Ultra-rare 'strawberry' leopards discovered in South Africa (Photos) . Earth Touch News Network. en. 2020-02-29.