Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “wing”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed2004

Unsteady forces and flows in low Reynolds number hovering flight: two-dimensional computations vs robotic wing experiments.

We compare computational, experimental and quasi-steady forces in a generic hovering wing undergoing sinusoidal motion along a horizontal stroke plane. In particular, we investigate unsteady effects and compare two-dimensional (2D) computations and three-dimensional (3D) experiments in several qualitatively different kinematic patterns. In all cases, the computed drag compares well with the experiments. The computed lift agrees in the cases in which the sinusoidal changes in angle of attack are symmetrical or advanced with respect to stroke positions, but lags behind the measured 3D lift in the delayed case. In the range of amplitudes studied here, 3-5 chords, the force coefficients have a weak dependence on stroke amplitude. As expected, the forces are sensitive to the phase between stroke angle and angle of attack, a result that can be explained by the orientation of the wing at reversal. This dependence on amplitude and phase suggests a simple maneuver strategy that could be used by a flapping wing device. In all cases the unsteady forces quickly reach an almost periodic state with continuous flapping. The fluid forces are dominated by the pressure contribution. The force component directly proportional to the linear acceleration is smaller by a factor proportional to the ratio of wing thickness and stroke amplitude; its net contribution is zero in hovering. The ratio of wing inertia and fluid force is proportional to the product of the ratio of wing and fluid density and the ratio of wing thickness and stroke amplitude; it is negligible in the robotic wing experiment, but need not be in insect flight. To identify unsteady effects associated with wing acceleration, and coupling between rotation and translation, as well as wake capture, we examine the difference between the unsteady forces and the estimates based on translational velocities, and compare them against the estimate of the coupling between rotation and translation, which have simple analytic forms for sinusoidal motions. The agreement and disagreement between the computed forces and experiments offer further insight into when the 3D effects are important. A main difference between a 3D revolving wing and a 2D translating wing is the absence of vortex shedding by a revolving wing over a distance much longer than the typical stroke length of insects. No doubt such a difference in shedding dynamics is responsible in part for the differences in steady state force coefficients measured in 2D and 3D. On the other hand, it is unclear whether such differences would have a significant effect on transient force coefficients before the onset of shedding. While the 2D steady state force coefficients underpredict 3D forces, the transient 2D forces measured prior to shedding are much closer to the 3D forces. In the cases studied here, the chord is moving between 3 to 5 chords, typical of hovering insect stroke length, and the flow does not appear to separate during each stroke in the cases of advanced and symmetrical rotation. In these cases, the wing reverses before the leading edge vortex would have time to separate even in 2D. This suggests that the time scale for flow separation in these strokes is dictated by the flapping frequency, which is dimensionally independent. In such cases, the 2D unsteady forces turn out to be good approximations of 3D experiments.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Programmed cell death in the wing of Orgyia leucostigma (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae).

Programmed cell death is an integral and ubiquitous phenomenon of development that is responsible for the reduction of wing size in female moths of Orgyia leucostigma (Lymantriidae). Throughout larval and pupal life, cells of the wing epithelium proliferate and interact to form normal imaginal discs and pupal wings in both sexes. But at the onset of adult development, most cells in female O. leucostigma wings degenerate over a brief, 2-day period. Lysosomes and autophagic vacuoles appear in cells of the wing epithelium shortly after it retracts from the pupal cuticle. Hemocytes actively participate in removing the resulting cellular debris. By contrast, epithelial cells in wings of developing adult males of O. leucostigma do not undergo massive cell death. Wing epithelium of female pupae transferred to male pupal hosts behaves autonomously in this foreign environment. By pupation, cells of the female wing apparently are committed to self-destruct even in a male pupal environment. Normal interactions among epithelial cells within the plane of a wing monolayer as well as between the upper and lower monolayers of the wing are disrupted in female O. leucostigma by massive cell degeneration. Despite this disruption, the remaining cells of the wing contribute to the formation of a diminutive, but reasonably proportioned, adult wing with scales and veins.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Absorption of visible spectrum radiation by the wing membranes of living pteropodid bats.

The wing membranes of bats present a large surface area upon which radiation might be taken up, increasing heat load to the animals. This, combined with the high amount of heat produced during flight, has been advanced as one hypothesis explaining the fact that bats are almost exclusively nocturnal. The proportion of short-wave (visible) radiation absorbed by bat wing membrane has previously been measured at between 0.7 and 0.92. These measurements were made on pieces of membrane taken from the wings of dead, mainly insectivorous bats from temperate regions. Here we examined the amount of light transmitted through and reflected off the wing membranes of four species of live pteropodid bats. There were significant differences in wing reflection between species. At 0.68, the average proportion of light absorbed into the wing membranes was lower than previously reported. This might be because we worked with live animals or because ours were tropical bats which are routinely exposed to tropical sun when roosting. Variation in wing tension strongly affected light absorption. It was predicted that the relaxed state of wing membrane through part of the wing beat cycle would increase the absorption of light into the wings of day-flying bats. The proportion of light absorbed into wings was shown to be an important factor in the heat balance of hypothetical bats flying during the day. Our results raise the predicted temperature at which bats flying during the day might experience hyperthermia by approximately 2 degrees C and suggest that variation in albedo of wings between species may make some species more susceptible to overheating than others.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Identification and characterization of genes abnormally expressed in wing-deficient mutant (flügellos) of the silkworm, Bombyx mori.

The wing-deficient mutant, flügellos (fl), of the silkworm lacks four wings in the pupa and the adult, due to aberrant wing morphogenesis during metamorphosis. To elucidate the mechanisms of wing-specific deficiencies in the fl mutant, we used mRNA differential display and identified five genes abnormally expressed in the fl wing discs. Northern blot and RT-PCR analyses revealed that four genes were overexpressed, but the fifth one was not transcribed in the fl wing discs. The expression level of ribosome-associated protein p40 in the fl wing discs was elevated approximately 10 times compared to the wild-type (WT) discs. Another overexpressed gene CB10 encodes a novel wing-specific protein with a putative zinc-finger motif. Overexpression of two components of extracellular matrix, cuticle protein 18 (BMCP18) and a fibrillin-like protein AD10, may result in the abnormal wing morphogenesis in the fl mutant. In contrast, a novel member of multifunctional Ca2+-binding protein annexins, designated as annexin b13 (Anx b13), was expressed dominantly in the wing discs of WT but completely repressed in the fl tissues. Strong expression of Anx b13 in wing discs during the fourth and fifth instar indicates that ANX B13 plays an important role in wing morphogenesis.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Genetic variation for the positioning of wing veins in Drosophila melanogaster.

To define the components of variation for wing shape in Drosophila in relation to what is known about the developmental control of wing patterning, we have characterized shape variation in the wings of 12 randomly chosen highly inbred lines. Despite large differences in wing size between males and females, and between flies reared at 18 degrees C or 25 degrees C, wing shape is remarkably unaffected by these variables and is highly line specific. The shape of each intervein region of the wing appears to be independently regulated at the genetic level, consistent with the role of secreted growth factors in establishing the locations of wing veins. Sex and temperature were found to have different effects on cell number in two intervein regions, with the result that wing shape is to a large extent independent of cell density. Dietary cholesterol was also shown to affect the breadth of the central intervein region, consistent with an effect on the strength of Hedgehog signaling during wing development. We conclude that wing shape is under tighter genetic control than wing size, and hypothesize that this control is achieved in large part by gene activity at the level of wing vein determination and differentiation.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Female-specific wing degeneration caused by ecdysteroid in the Tussock Moth, Orgyia recens: hormonal and developmental regulation of sexual dimorphism.

Females of the tussock moth Orgyia recens have vestigial wings, whereas the males have normal wings. During early pupal development, female wings degenerate drastically compared with those of males. To examine whether ecdysteroid is involved in this sex-specific wing development, we cultured pupal wings just after pupation with ecdysteroid (20-hydroxyecdysone, 20E). In the presence of 20E, the female wings degenerated to about one-fifth their original size. In contrast, the male wings cultured with 20E showed only peripheral degeneration just outside the bordering lacuna, as in other butterflies and moths. TUNEL analysis showed that apoptotic signals were induced by 20E over the entire region of female wings, but only in the peripheral region of male wings. Semi-thin sections of the wings cultured with ecdysteroid showed that phagocytotic hemocytes were observed abundantly throughout the female wings, but in only peripheral regions of male wings. These observations indicate that both apoptotic events and phagocytotic activation are triggered by ecdysteroid, in sex-specific and region-specific manners.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

A test of positional properties of avian wing-bud mesoderm.

Supernumerary wing structures are readily produced by grafting pieces of wing-bud mesoderm into different locations of host wing buds, but the mechanism underlying their formation remains obscure. The major aim of this study was to examine the ability of posterior quail wing-bud mesoderm, cultured in vitro long enough to lose ZPA (zone of polarizing activity) activity, to stimulate or participate in the formation of supernumerary structures when grafted into anterior slits of host chick wing buds. Small pieces of anterior and posterior quail wing-bud mesoderm (HH stages 21-23) were placed in in vitro culture for up to 3 days. After 2 days, ZPA activity of cultured mesoderm was lost. After the grafting of 2- to 3-day cultured anterior quail wing-bud mesoderm into posterior slits of host chick wing-buds, a consistently high percentage (70%-90%) of grafts result in formation of supernumerary cartilage; in this experiment, however, only a low percentage of grafts resulted in supernumerary cartilage when 2- to 3-day cultured posterior mesoderm was grafted into anterior slits. Taken with controls, these results show that positional differences exist between cultured anterior and posterior wing-bud mesoderm. Serial-section analysis of numerous operated wings has shown several patterns of contribution to supernumerary structures by cells of graft and host. Single supernumerary digits induced by grafts of ZPA mesoderm into anterior slits were normally composed entirely of host cells, but graft cells regularly contributed to skeletal elements of more complex supernumerary structures. Cartilage rods produced by anterior-to-posterior grafts were composed mostly of graft cells, but cartilage nodules and the bases of some rods were often mosaics of chick and quail cells. The results support the proposition that mesodermal cells of the quail wing-bud possess a form of anteroposterior positional memory, but its nature and the means by which the memory of grafted cells interacts with host mesoderm are still not clear.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Development of wing-bud-derived muscles in normal and wingless chick embryos: a computer-assisted three-dimensional reconstruction study of muscle pattern formation in the absence of skeletal elements.

The mechanisms whereby the normal pattern of muscles within the developing chick limb bud is generated are largely unexplored. It has been proposed that the muscle pattern is established independently of the pattern for the limb skeletal elements to which the muscles normally attach (Shellswell and Wolpert: "The Pattern of Muscle and Tendon Development in the Chick Wing."In: Vertebrate Limb and Somite Morphogenesis. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 71-86, 1977). To further examine this possibility we studied the formation of the proximal wing muscles in normal and wingless chick embryos. The muscles of the shoulder region (including the pectoralis) arise as part of the dorsal and ventral premuscle masses of the developing limb bud. These secondarily migrate out of the limb to take origin from the pectoral girdle while inserting onto the humerus (Sullivan: Aust. J. Zool., 10:458-516, 1962). With rare exceptions, wingless embryos have complete absence of wing skeletal elements, but they may possess more than 40% of the normal volume of wing-bud-derived muscles. The muscles that remain in wingless embryos are primarily shoulder muscles, and to a varying extent, the pectoralis. The question we sought to answer was whether in wingless embryos the proximal wing muscles could form a normal pattern in the absence of the humerus and distal wing skeletal elements. By examining three-dimensional reconstructions of the proximal wing region in normal and wingless embryos, we found that the initial subdivision of the dorsal and ventral premuscle masses proceeded normally in the absence of the wing skeleton. This resulted in a grossly normal pattern of proximal wing muscles despite the absence of wing skeletal elements. However, some subsequent cleavages of individual muscles within premuscle mass divisions did not occur in wingless embryos. This suggests that the skeleton may be required for this step in muscle morphogenesis to occur. We also observed that the wing-bud-derived muscles in wingless embryos were nearly always anchored to the pectoral girdle at both ends. Sometimes this resulted in muscles making abnormal tendonous fusions with other muscles derived from the opposite (i.e., dorsal or ventral) premuscle mass. Therefore, attachment to the skeleton may be important for some facet of muscle development. Finally, the supracoracoideus muscle was absent in all but one wingless embryo we examined in the present study. In that one, it was substantially reduced in volume compared to normal. absence of this muscle, the space normally occupied by the supracoracoideus was maintained beneath the pectoralis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed1981

Development of wing-flapping and flight in normal and flap-deprived domestic chicks.

Lateral flight evoked by dropping appeared 7-9 days after hatching. Drop-evoked bilaterally symmetrical wing extension and slow, low-amplitude wing-flapping were present by Day 1. Flapping rate measured using strobophotography increased up to approximately 13 days. Normal wing-flapping rates and lateral flight distances were achieved by chicks whose wings were immobilized with elastic bandages from Day 1 until immediately before testing at 13 days, indicating that wing movement is not necessary for the postnatal development of basic wing-flapping and flight. The ratio of wing area to body weight, a morphological index of wing-lift efficiency, rapidly increased up to 13 days and slowly declined through 49 days. The peaking of this ratio at 13 days corresponds to the age at which lateral flight is well established and wing-flapping rate is at its maximum. Thus, the development of wing morphology, wing-flapping rate, and flight are strongly and positively correlated.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Different spatial and temporal interactions between Notch, wingless, and vestigial specify proximal and distal pattern elements of the wing in Drosophila.

The wing of Drosophila is composed of a proximal element, the hinge, which attaches it to the thorax, and a distal one, the wing blade. The development of the wing is a complex process that requires the integration of cellular responses to two signaling systems centered along the anteroposterior and the dorsoventral axes. The genes Notch (N) and wingless (wg) play an important role in generating the information from the dorsoventral axis. The vestigial (vg) gene is necessary for the development of the wing and is a target of these signaling systems during the growth of the wing. Here we examine the roles that N, wg, and vg play during the initial stages of wing development. Our results reveal that vg is involved in the specification of the wing primordium under the combined control of Notch and wingless signaling. Furthermore, we show that once cells are assigned to the wing fate, their development relies on a sequence of regulatory loops that involve N, wg, and vg. During this process, cells that are exposed to the activity of both wg and vg will become wing blade and those that are continuously under the influence of wg alone will develop as hinge. Our results also indicate that the growth of the cells in the wing blade results from a synergistic effect of the three genes N, wg, and vg on the cells that have been specified as wing blade.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Developmental compartments in the Drosophila melanogaster wing disc.

Distribution of the enzyme aldehyde oxidase (AO) within the pouch of the mature wing disc is precise and differential. General locations of compartmental boundaries have been identified by fate mapping and studies of AO distribution. The suspected locations of the boundaries were verified by analyzing the distribution of AO-negative cells within an AO-stained background in gynandromorphs and in X-ray-induced clones of AO-negative cells. The anterior/posterior border appeared slightly anterior to the junction of the AO+ anterior presumptive wing surfaces and AO- posterior wing surfaces. A narrow band of AO+ cells extending proximodistally on both presumptive wing surfaces belongs to the posterior compartment. Two dorsal/ventral (dor./vent.) restrictions were found. The dor./vent. restriction equivalent to the dor./vent. border found in the adult wing was located at the ventral most edge of the AO-stained presumptive wing margin. A second restriction which was less strictly obeyed was found on the dorsal edge of the wing margin. We conclude that the whole presumptive wing margin is part of the dorsal compartment. Within the anterior wing margin an intensively stained oval was also found to be clonally restrictive. Therefore, territories were found within the prospective wing margin for which no such features have been identified in the adult Drosophila melanogaster wing.

Aldehyde Oxidase↗
PubMed2003

Temporally dynamic response to Wingless directs the sequential elaboration of the proximodistal axis of the Drosophila wing.

The Drosophila wing imaginal disc gives rise to three main regions along the proximodistal axis of the dorsal mesothoracic segment: the notum, proximal wing, and wing blade. Development of the wing blade requires the Notch and wingless signalling pathways to activate vestigial at the dorsoventral boundary. However, in the proximal wing, Wingless activates a different subset of genes, e.g., homothorax. This raises the question of how the downstream response to Wingless signalling differentiates between proximal and distal fate specification. Here, we show that a temporally dynamic response to Wingless signalling sequentially elaborates the proximodistal axis. In the second instar, Wingless activates genes involved in proximal wing development; later in the third instar, Wingless acts to direct the differentiation of the distal wing blade. The expression of a novel marker for proximal wing fate, zfh-2, is initially activated by Wingless throughout the "wing primordium," but later is repressed by the activity of Vestigial and Nubbin, which together define a more distal domain. Thus, activation of a distal developmental program is antagonistic to previously established proximal fate. In addition, Wingless is required early to establish proximal fate, but later when Wingless activates distal differentiation, development of proximal fate becomes independent of Wingless signalling. Since P-element insertions in the zfh-2 gene result in a revertable proximal wing deletion phenotype, it appears that zfh-2 activity is required for correct proximal wing development. Our data are consistent with a model in which Wingless first establishes a proximal appendage fate over notum, then the downstream response changes to direct the differentiation of a more distal fate over proximal. Thus, the proximodistal domains are patterned in sequence and show a distal dominance.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Automated measurement of Drosophila wings.

BACKGROUND: Many studies in evolutionary biology and genetics are limited by the rate at which phenotypic information can be acquired. The wings of Drosophila species are a favorable target for automated analysis because of the many interesting questions in evolution and development that can be addressed with them, and because of their simple structure. RESULTS: We have developed an automated image analysis system (WINGMACHINE) that measures the positions of all the veins and the edges of the wing blade of Drosophilid flies. A video image is obtained with the aid of a simple suction device that immobilizes the wing of a live fly. Low-level processing is used to find the major intersections of the veins. High-level processing then optimizes the fit of an a priori B-spline model of wing shape. WINGMACHINE allows the measurement of 1 wing per minute, including handling, imaging, analysis, and data editing. The repeatabilities of 12 vein intersections averaged 86% in a sample of flies of the same species and sex. Comparison of 2400 wings of 25 Drosophilid species shows that wing shape is quite conservative within the group, but that almost all taxa are diagnosably different from one another. Wing shape retains some phylogenetic structure, although some species have shapes very different from closely related species. The WINGMACHINE system facilitates artificial selection experiments on complex aspects of wing shape. We selected on an index which is a function of 14 separate measurements of each wing. After 14 generations, we achieved a 15 S.D. difference between up and down-selected treatments. CONCLUSION: WINGMACHINE enables rapid, highly repeatable measurements of wings in the family Drosophilidae. Our approach to image analysis may be applicable to a variety of biological objects that can be represented as a framework of connected lines.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Drosophila wing development in the absence of dorsal identity.

The developing wing disc of Drosophila is divided into distinct lineage-restricted compartments along both the anterior/posterior (A/P) and dorsal/ventral (D/V) axes. At compartment boundaries, morphogenic signals pattern the disc epithelium and direct appropriate outgrowth and differentiation of adult wing structures. The mechanisms by which affinity boundaries are established and maintained, however, are not completely understood. Compartment-specific adhesive differences and inter-compartment signaling have both been implicated in this process. The selector gene apterous (ap) is expressed in dorsal cells of the wing disc and is essential for D/V compartmentalization, wing margin formation, wing outgrowth and dorsal-specific wing structures. To better understand the mechanisms of Ap function and compartment formation, we have rescued aspects of the ap mutant phenotype with genes known to be downstream of Ap. We show that Fringe (Fng), a secreted protein involved in modulation of Notch signaling, is sufficient to rescue D/V compartmentalization, margin formation and wing outgrowth when appropriately expressed in an ap mutant background. When Fng and alphaPS1, a dorsally expressed integrin subunit, are co-expressed, a nearly normal-looking wing is generated. However, these wings are entirely of ventral identity. Our results demonstrate that a number of wing development features, including D/V compartmentalization and wing vein formation, can occur independently of dorsal identity and that inter-compartmental signaling, refined by Fng, plays the crucial role in maintaining the D/V affinity boundary. In addition, it is clear that key functions of the ap selector gene are mediated by only a small number of downstream effectors.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Repression of Teashirt marks the initiation of wing development.

The wing imaginal disc comprises the primordia of the adult wing and the dorsal thoracic body wall. During second larval instar, the wing disc is subdivided into distinct domains that correspond to the presumptive wing and body wall. Early activity of the signaling protein Wingless has been implicated in the specification of the wing primordium. Wingless mutants can produce animals in which the wing is replaced by a duplication of thoracic structures. Specification of wing fate has been visualized by expression of the POU-homeodomain protein Nubbin in the presumptive wing territory and by repression of the homeodomain protein Homothorax. We report that repression of the zinc-finger transcription factor Teashirt (Tsh) is the earliest event in wing specification. Repression of Tsh by the combined action of Wingless and Decapentaplegic is required for wing pouch formation and for subsequent repression of Hth. Thus, repression of Tsh defines the presumptive wing earlier in development than repression of Hth, which must therefore be considered a secondary event.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Measuring the angle of attack of beating insect wings: robust three-dimensional reconstruction from two-dimensional images

A robust technique for determining the angle of attack of insect wings from film of free flight has to date proved elusive. This report describes the development of two new methods ­ the Strips and Planes techniques ­ which were designed to overcome some of the limitations experienced in previous studies. The accuracy and robustness of these novel methods were tested extensively using simulated hawkmoth wing outlines generated for a realistic range of wing positions and torsion. The results were compared with those from two existing methods ­ the Symmetry and Landmarks procedures. The performance of the latter technique will be strongly species-dependent; it could not be successfully applied to hawkmoth flight because of practical difficulties in obtaining suitable landmarks. The Planes method was the least successful of the remaining techniques, especially during those phases of the wingbeat when the orientations of the two wings relative to the camera viewpoint were similar. The Symmetry and Strips methods were tested further to investigate the effects on their performance of introducing additional camber or wing motion asymmetry. The results showed clearly that the Strips method should be the technique of choice wherever the axis of wing torsion is close to the longitudinal axis of the wing. The procedure involves the experimenter matching a model wing divided into chordwise strips to the true wing outline digitized from high-speed film. The use of strips rather than the points digitized in previous studies meant that the analysis required only one wing outline to be digitized. Symmetry of motion between the left and right wings is not assumed. The implications of requiring human input to the Strips method, as opposed to the strictly numerical algorithms of the alternative techniques, are discussed. It is argued that the added flexibility that this provides in dealing with images which have typically been recorded in suboptimal conditions outweighs the introduction of an element of subjectivity. Additional observations arising from the use of the Strips analysis with high-speed video sequences of hawkmoth flight are given.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1999

scalloped functions in a regulatory loop with vestigial and wingless to pattern the Drosophila wing.

The development of the Drosophila wing involves progressive patterning events. In the second larval instar, cells of the wing disc are allotted wing or notum fates by a wingless-mediated process and dorsal or ventral fates by the action of apterous and wingless. Notch-mediated signalling is required for the expression of the genes vestigial and scalloped in the presumptive wing blade. Later, wingless, Notch and cut are involved in cell fate specification along the wing margin. The function of scalloped in this process is not well understood and is the focus of this study. We show that patterning downstream of Notch and wingless pathways is altered in scalloped mutants. Reduction in scalloped expression results in a loss of expression of wing blade- and margin-specific markers. Misexpression of scalloped in the presumptive wing causes misexpression of scalloped, vestigial and wingless reporter genes. However, high levels of scalloped expression have a negative influence on wingless, vestigial and its own expression. Our results demonstrate that scalloped functions in a level-dependent manner in the presumptive wing blade in a loop that involves vestigial and itself. We suggest that wing development requires the regulated expression of scalloped together with vestigial-the "wing formation" effects of Vestigial in other imaginal discs are probably due to its interaction with the scalloped gene product normally expressed in these discs.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

A sex-linked locus controls wing polymorphism in males of the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris).

Discrete variation in wing morphology is a very common phenomenon in insects and has been used extensively in the past 50 years as a model to study the ecology and evolution of dispersal. Wing morph determination can be purely genetic, purely environmental, or some combination of the two. The precise genetic determinants of genetically based wing morph variation are unknown. Here we explore the genetic basis of wing polymorphism in the pea aphid, which can produce either winged or wingless males. We confirm that three types of pea aphid clones coexist in natural populations, those producing winged males only, those producing wingless males only, and those producing a mixture of both. A Mendelian genetic analysis reveals that male wing polymorphism in pea aphids is determined by a single locus, two alleles system. Using microsatellite loci of known location, we show that this locus is on the X chromosome. The existence of a simple genetic determinism for wing polymorphism in a system in which genetic investigation is possible may help investigations on the physiological and molecular mechanisms of genetically-based wing morph variation. This locus could also be used in the search for genes involved in the wing polyphenism described in parthenogenetic females and to investigate the interplay between polymorphisms and polyphenisms.

Alleles↗