The genetics of colour polymorphism in the aposematic jersey tiger moth callimorpha quadripunctaria

Abstract

The colour polymorphism in the warningly-coloured moth Callimorpha quadripunctaria (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) involves three major phenotypes with bright red, orange or yellow hindwings. These are controlled by two unlinked gene loci, each with a pair of alleles exhibiting complete dominance. One locus, when homozygous recessive, is epistatic to the other. Allele frequencies in the polymorphic populations of the geographically peripheral and ecologically marginal region of southwest England are inferred from data on phenotype frequencies. These populations show high frequencies of each allele at the two loci with some evidence of clines within the region. © 1990 The Genetical Society of Great Britain.