Abstract
Single, inseminated females of D. melanogaster derived from the same popUlation have led to discrete strains for sternopleural chaeta number, in agreement with earlier work on other traits. The discrete stains indicate that wild populations have genes which are polymorphic for sternopleural chaeta number. As well as showing characteristic mean chaeta ·numbers, there was some indication that the strains had characteristic levels of variability. No significant correlations were found between sternopleural and scutellar chaeta numbers.