Inheritance of Radiation-Induced Partial Sterility in the Indian Meal Moth134

Abstract

Fifth-stage larvae and adult males of Plodia interpunctella (Hubner) were subjected to doses of gamma radiation sufficient to produce partially sterile populations. Radiation of 5th-stage larvae at 3.5 krad caused a 72% reduction in numbers of offspring in the F, generation compared with numbers produced by unirradiated crosses. When F1 males from this treated line were mated with normal females, there was an 89% reduction in the F2 generation. Males treated with 3.5 krad as 5th-stage larvae were sexually competitive with normal males. When one-day-old adult P. interpunctella males were irradiated at various dose levels, irradiation of adults at 25 krad did not produce results comparable with those produced by the 3.5-krad radiation of the 5th-stage larvae. Dosages above 25 krad reduced the sexual competitiveness of the males treated as adults.