TITLE:
Gold: A Unique Pigmentation Defective Laboratory Strain of the Lady Beetle
AUTHORS:
Margaret Louise Allen
KEYWORDS:
Lady Beetle, Recessive Phenotype, Reciprocal Cross, Inbreeding Depression, Aposematism
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Entomology,
Vol.4 No.1,
January
11,
2016
ABSTRACT: A laboratory colony of Coleomegilla maculata (De Geer) was selected for a novel phenotypic color trait. The phenotype was paler in color than the wild type, although not as pale as a previously described mutant strain, yellow (ye), and retained dark pigmentation in the eyes. This selected strain was named gold. Mendelian breeding experiments indicate a recessive biallelic inheritance. The strain has decreased fitness characteristics based on measurements of egg production and pupa size.