The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University’s butterfly exhibit houses up to 150 specimens and dozens of species, but one recent entry maintains a special distinction: it is both male and female.

The Philadelphia-based facility received the peculiar butterfly from Malaysia’s Penang Island. Known as Lexias pardalis, its left wings displayed the traditional markings of a male while the right wings were reminiscent of a female.

Typically, female wings are “brown with yellow and white spots” and male wings are “dark green, blue and purple,” reports CBS News.

Drexel University volunteer Chris Johnson originally spotted the split-sexed butterfly.

“I thought: ‘Somebody’s fooling with me,” said Johnson. “It’s just too perfect. Then I got goose bumps.”

Scientists later identified the creature’s condition as bilateral gynandromorphy.

He adds, “It slowly opened up, and the wings were so dramatically different, it was immediately apparent what it was.”

Entomology expert Jason Weintraub was brought aboard to further understand the Butterflies! exhibit’s find.

“Gynandromorphism is most frequently noticed in bird and butterfly species where the two sexes have very different coloration,” explains the Entomology Collection Manager. “It can result from non-disjunction of sex chromosomes, an error that sometimes occurs during the division of chromosomes at a very early stage of development.”

Although this particular Lexias pardialis butterfly will not join the exhibit, curious onlookers can expect the University to show off the animal starting January 17, ending February 16.

The Academy of Natural Sciences was founded in 1812 and currently holds an astounding 3.5 million animals in its etymology collection.

The Butterflies! website boasts that their facilities are filled with specimens from Central and South America, East Africa and Southeast Asia.

Butterflies typically live for only a handful of weeks, making the ephemeral discovery even more surprising.

Each butterfly’s wings are inlaid with microscopic scales and play a key part in the mate selection process. Interestingly, the creature is found all over the world, except for Antarctica, according to Defenders of Wildlife.