Aeroplane wing, a new recessive autosomal phenotypic marker in the malaria vector, Liston.

A novel and distinct mutant with a phenotype, aeroplane wing () is reported for the first time in the urban malaria vector . The main aim of this study was to establish the mode of inheritance of the gene performing genetic crossings between the mutants and wild types. These mutants show extended open wings that are visible to naked eyes in both the sexes. Mutants were first noticed in a nutritionally stressed isofemale colony. Strategic genetic crosses revealed that the gene is a recessive, autosomal, and monogenic trait having full penetrance with uniform expression in its adult stage. Egg morphometric analysis confirmed that these mutants were intermediate variant. No significant differences were observed in the wing venation and size of mutants compared to their control parental lines. Further cytogenetic analysis on the ovarian polytene chromosome of mutant showed an inversion (3L) on the 3L arm like its parental line. This mutant would be a prominent marker and could be useful to study the functions of related specific genes within its genome.