Some Contributions to Population Genetics Resulting from the Study of the Lepidoptera
1961; Elsevier BV; Linguagem: Inglês
10.1016/s0065-2660(08)60117-0
ISSN0065-2660
Autores Tópico(s)Plant and animal studies
ResumoThis chapter discusses the results of evolutionary interest, obtained by population genetics studies in the Lepidoptera. Observations on natural and experimental populations present that major genes can have very large selective values in the wild and that these can fluctuate violently in direction and intensity from year to year and place to place. Major genes that are responsible for the presence of a polymorphism frequently affect more than one character, and selection acts on both the visual and physiological characters controlled by them. The spread of a major gene in a population often results in a reconstruction of the gene-complex because of changes in selection consequent upon the presence of the major gene. Thus, the viability of industrial melanics and their resemblance to the soot-covered surfaces on which they rest is improved after the melanics have become well established. Similarly, the presence of genes controlling mimetic resemblances to distasteful models leads to a reconstruction of the rest of the gene-complex that improves the resemblance between mimic and model. The presence of polymorphisms confined to the female sex in butterflies and not in moths depends on the nature of courtship in the Lepidoptera. When the genetic balance is disturbed by artificial selection, natural selection quickly restores this balance.
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