The sensitive period for yellow phenocopy induction inDrosophila melanogaster

Summary Yellow phenocopies ofDrosophila melanogaster were produced by raising larvae on -DMT contaminated media. Using a survivorship test, the sensitive period for phenocopy induction was found to occur during the third larval instar of development, with increased survivorship at 1% -DMT compared with lower concentrations. It was also found that treatment with -DMT significantly slowed development. These findings are related to the relevant morphological and behavioral developmental pathways and to phenocopy induction.Publication No. 35 from the Evolutionary Genetics Laboratory, University of Auckland.Acknowledgments. We thank the New Zealand Entomology Society for a grant from their Anniversary Fund to R. D. Newcomb and the University Grants Committee, Research Grant No. 394.597 to D.M. Lambert.