Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 July 2009
The mode of inheritance of dieldrin-resistance in Cimex lectularius L. and Pediculus h. humanus L. was investigated. The method involved the determination of dosage/mortality regression lines by exposing batches of insects to a range of dieldrin concentrations. Reciprocal crosses were made between normal (N) and resistant (R) strains of each insect, and the F1 and F2 progeny were examined for susceptibility levels over a wide range of concentrations of dieldrin. Back-crosses were made from the F1 generation to N and R strains, and the progeny were examined in the same way. In some cases, further back-crosses were made after elimination of susceptible individuals from the progeny of the first back-cross.
All the results with C. lectularius were consistent with monofactorial inheritance of dieldrin-resistance through a gene of intermediate dominance. With P. h. humanus, the results were complicated by an apparent maternal effect which caused the F1 and F2 generations from a N ♀ × R ♂ cross to be less resistant than those from a R ♀ × N ♂ cross. In general, however, the results indicated genetic segregation consistent with the same type of monofactorial inheritance as that found in C. lectularius.