A Body Colour Mutation in the German Cockroach

Abstract

FOR many years various cockroach species have been used extensively as experimental animals, particularly in physiological investigations and, more recently, in studies on insecticide resistance. Generally speaking, however, there is little known concerning the genetics of cockroaches. For some time we have carried out a search for heritable traits in the German cockroach, Blattella germanica (L.), along a somewhat similar line to that conducted in the mosquito, Aedes aegyptii, by Craig and VandeHey^1,2, An autosomal recessive, balloon-wing³, and a tergal abnormality⁴ have already been described. The genetics of an orange-body colour mutation (or) is presented here, as well as the results of tests for linkage of this trait with balloon-wing (ba). Crosses with a DDT-resistant strain were also made, but the results are presented elsewhere⁵.