Summary
The seaweed fly, Coelopa frigida, is polymorphic for two gene arrangements on chromosome I. Inversion frequencies in natural populations are very stable, both geographically and temporally and there is a consistent excess of heterokary-otypes. Laboratory experiments are reported which demonstrate that the egg to adult viability of heterokaryotypes is higher than either homokaryotype. This advantage increases markedly with larval density. Field samples also show a strong correlation between larval density and relative viability, expressed as the excess of heterokaryotypes over Hardy-Weinberg expectations. Larvae of a closely related species, C. pilipes contribute significantly to this density effect in natural populations.
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Butlin, R., Collins, P. & Day, T. The effect of larval density on an inversion polymorphism in the seaweed fly Coelopa frigida. Heredity 52, 415–423 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1984.49
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1984.49
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