Abstract
When the Pure Mysore strain maintained as culture stock was kept at a low temperature (20°C) during the spinning and prepupal stages, black and striped markings appeared on the pupal wings. Mating experiments revealed that the manifestation of the black-striped character is controlled by a single recessive gene. This mutant was designated as “black-striped pupal wing” (symbol: bpw). The manifestation of the bpw gene was affected by the ambient temperature during the spinning and prepupal stages. The sensitivity to temperature was manifested about 2 days after the beginning of the wandering stage at 20°C. The bpw character appeared without exception when larvae were kept at a temperature of less than 20°C during the sensitive period. On the other hand, the character was completely suppressed when the temperature was above 23°C, and intermediate values of temperature (21-22°C) induced various types of pupae including normal ones and those with the typical bpw character. Therefore, it is concluded that the bpw mutant is extremely sensitive to temperature.
