AUTOSOMAL RECESSIVE MUTATIONS AFFECTING BODY COLOR IN PYRRHOCORIS-APTERUS (HEMIPTERA, PYRRHOCORIDAE)

Genetic characteristics of the first three mutants found in P. apterus L.; white (w/w) 1965, yellow (y/y) 1966 and melanotic (m/m) 1973 have been described in detail. Exact Mendelian proportions of 1 : 1 and 3 : 1 in all standard test crosses and absence of sexual linkage reveale d that each of these mutations was inherited as a single autosomal rec essive gene. The dihybrid and trihybrid crosses showed that the w gene is epistatic over y. The absence of linkage shows that each of the de scribed mutant genes is situated on a different chromosome. During 30 years of sustained rearings of P. apterus, the white (w/w) and yellow (y/y) mutants never originated de novo, whereas the melanotic (m/m) mu tants originated independently from the macropterous strain three time s. Triple recessive (w y m) white melanotic strain has been maintained and used for some genetic investigations for over 20 years.