erythrism

{{short description|Unusual reddish pigmentation in animals}}

File:European Polecat (Mustela putorius)-8.jpg]]

Erythrism or erythrochroism refers to an unusual reddish pigmentation of an animal's hair, skin, feathers, or eggshells.{{citation|jstor=4163790|title=Production of Erythristic Eggs by the Black-Headed Gull in Poland|year=1997|journal=Wilson Bull.|volume=109|pages=177–182|author=Dariusz Bukaciński and Monika Bukacińska|issue=1|publisher=Wilson Ornithological Society}}

Causes of erythrism include:

• Genetic mutations which cause an absence of a normal pigment and/or excessive production of others{{citation|jstor=4513830|title=Erythristic Eggs in the Common Tern|year=1993|journal=J. Field Ornithol.|volume=64|pages=341–345|author=Helen Hays and Kenneth C. Parkes|issue=3|publisher=Association of Field Ornithologists}}
• Diet, as in bees feeding on "bright red corn syrup" used in maraschino cherry manufacturing.{{cite magazine |last=Schmidt |first=Sarah |date=December 1, 2010 |url=http://www.onearth.org/article/helping-brooklyns-red-stingers-get-off-the-juice |title=Helping Brooklyn's Red Stingers Get Off The Juice |magazine=onEarth |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101224072819/http://www.onearth.org/article/helping-brooklyns-red-stingers-get-off-the-juice |archive-date=December 24, 2010}}

Erythrism in katydids has been occasionally observed. The coloring might be a camouflage that helps some members of the species survive on red plants.{{citation|author=Gary Noel Ross|title=Pretty in pink|journal=Natural History|date=1 June 2003|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1134/is_5_112/ai_102275141}} 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.{{cite book|last=Stone|first=Daniel|title=Easier Being Green|date=March 2013|publisher=National Geographic|page=19}} Erythrism in leopards is rare, but one study{{Cite journal|last=Pirie|first=Tara J.|last2=Thomas|first2=Rebecca L.|last3=Fellowes|first3=Mark D. E.|date=2016-05-20|title=Erythristic leopards Panthera pardus in South Africa|url=https://journals.abcjournal.aosis.co.za/index.php/abc/article/view/2034|journal=Bothalia|language=en|volume=46|issue=1|pages=5|doi=10.4102/abc.v46i1.2034|issn=2311-9284|doi-access=free}} 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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.earthtouchnews.com/conservation/conservation/ultra-rare-strawberry-leopards-discovered-in-south-africa-photos|title=Ultra-rare 'strawberry' leopards discovered in South Africa (Photos) |website=Earth Touch News Network|language=en|access-date=2020-02-29}}