Abstract
Observations were made of genetic variability of reproductive allocation in a population of the cotton stainer bug Dysdercus fasciatus. In addition, genetic correlations between reproductive allocation and maternal size and between performances of reproductive allocation in two moisture environments were investigated. Groups of siblings were grown in either a low or a high moisture environment. Heritability estimates were approximately 1.0 in the low environment and 0.7 in the high environment. There was a tight and positive genetic association between reproductive allocation and maternal size in both environments. Some 50 per cent of the phenotypic variance in reproductive allocation across environments was due to genotype-by-environment interactions. The correlation between performances in low and high environments was less than unity, and environmental sensitivity and mean performance were negatively associated. These results indicate that the population sampled would respond to directional selection, with mean peformance and phenotypic plasticity of reproductive allocation moving in opposite directions.
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I would like to thank J. Goha for technical assistance and referees for constructive comments on the manuscript.
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Kasule, F. A quantitative genetic analysis of reproductive allocation in the cotton stainer bug Dysdercus fasciatus. Heredity 69, 141–149 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1992.107
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1992.107
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