Author(s)

Margaret Louise Allen

Biological Control of Pests Research Unit, National Biological Control Laboratory, US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Stoneville, MS, USA.

The lady beetle Coleomegilla maculata is a common New World insect that is naturally colored pink to red or orange with black spots on the forewings of the adult stage. Previous laboratory in-breeding resulted in selection for a strain lacking red pigment in the cuticle and eyes. An additional strain selected for a novel spotting pattern is described here. The inheritance of the new trait, “ten spotted” (10sp), was determined by classical crossing experiments. Inheritance of the trait was autosomal and exhibited incomplete dominance. Bionomic strain measurements were compared to the parental strains and were similar overall. Two expressed sequences from C. maculata that may be related to the new phenotype were compared to model insect genes encoding a melanin biosynthesis enzyme and a patterning transcription factor.

Coccinellidae, Mutant Phenotype, Melanin, Ebony, Wing Pattern

Allen, M. (2016) Characteristics of a Laboratory Strain of Coleomegilla maculata with a Novel Heritable Wing Spot Pattern Trait. Advances in Entomology, 4, 47-60. doi: 10.4236/ae.2016.41007.