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Industrial melanism in Mesopsocus unipunctatus (Müll.) (Psocoptera) in northern England
Author(s) -
POPESCU C.,
BROADHEAD E.,
SHORROCKS B.
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
ecological entomology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.865
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1365-2311
pISSN - 0307-6946
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2311.1978.tb00921.x
Subject(s) - melanism , biology , psocoptera , mendelian inheritance , sexual dimorphism , allele , zoology , evolutionary biology , genetics , gene
. 1. The light and melanic morphs of M.unipunctatus are described, their genetic inheritance considered, and their geographic distribution over a pollution gradient in Yorkshire is examined. 2. There is an obvious colour dimorphism. The light forms are disruptively patterned while the melanic forms are uniformly dark. 3. Genetic crosses indicate that the melanic character is inherited as a Mendelian dominant and that separate alleles, linked on the same chromosome, control the respective melanisms of the head‐thorax and of the abdomen. 4. In Yorkshire, there is a decrease in the frequency of melanics from the industrial south to the rural north.