Diapause in the gypsy moth: environment-specific mode of inheritance

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Abstract
SUMMARY: Preliminary investigation of the genetic basis of diapause in the gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar, involved a comparison of reciprocal crosses between wild-type moths and a selectively bred ‘non-diapause’ strain with the parental stocks, where half of the eggs resulting from each of the four mating types were exposed to one month of chill at 5 °C. The presence of chill dramatically altered the phenotypic expression of diapause-dependent characteristics. Early hatching was completely recessive in unchilled eggs, while hatching time was intermediate in chilled eggs, and there was no difference between reciprocal hybrids. Proportion of eggs hatching and, therefore, number of larvae produced was also influenced by chill. Unchilled hybrids did not differ substantially from wild-type eggs, while chilled hybrids were closer to the performance of the selected line. In this case, a significant reciprocal difference indicated some involvement of sex-linkage in the inheritance of diapause.

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