Abstract
Theebony 11 mutant allele was observed to be polymorphic in three sets of duplicated populations which differed in their genetic backgrounds. The polymorphisms were maintained for over 5 years (130 generations) and showed no signs of decay, withebony frequencies fluctuating from 10 to 30%. Studies of fitness characters suggested that male mating speed may be an important factor in maintaining these polymorphisms, as heterozygous males mate significantly faster than either homozygote. Other characters such as female fecundity, larval viability, and developmental rate showed little evidence either for heterosis or for frequency-dependent effects which might contribute to the polymorphism.
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This work was supported by a postgraduate scholarship from the Medical Research Council of Great Britain. I wish to thank Dr. Barrie Burnet for his valuable and constructive critism at all stages of the work and Laurie Tompkins and John Brookfield for comments on early versions of the manuscript. I am grateful to Professor Aubrey Manning, who kindly offered his facilities at the Department of Zoology, Edinburgh University, between 1976 and 1978 and to the U.S. Public Health Service for Grant GM-21473 to Dr. Jeffrey Hall at the Department of Biology, Brandeis University, between 1978 and 1981.
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Kyriacou, C.P. Long-termebony polymorphisms: A comparison of the contributions of behavioral and nonbehavioral fitness characters. Behav Genet 15, 165–180 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01065897
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01065897