A WING COLOR MUTANT (CW) IN THE PARASITIC WASP, MICROPLITIS-CROCEIPES(HYMENOPTERA, BRACONIDAE)

The haplodiploid parasitoid Microplitis croceipes (Cresson) normally o ccurs with a dark-pigmented, patterned wing. Here, we describe a clear wing color mutant defined by the allele cw, which has an abnormal win g pigmentation. The mutant phenotype is controlled by a single recessi ve gene. The cw gene may have an epistatic effect on the expression of the black abdomen gene, Bad, when both genes exist in the genome. Und er electron microscope examination, individuals of the cw mutant strai n were also found to have abnormal fool morphology, which affected the ir ability to cling to the sidewalls of colony cages.