Correlation of compound autosome segregation and sex-chromosome disjunction in female Lucilia cuprina (Wied.) (Diptera: Calliphoridae)

In Lucilia cuprina (Wiedemann) females, non-segregation of compound fifth-chromosomes is correlated with non-disjunction of the X chromosomes. Approximately two-thirds of eggs which inherit both maternal compound elements are nullo-X, suggesting that meiotic pairing between X chromosomes and compound autosomes has occurred. There was no evidence for pairing of the compounds and the X or Y chromosome in males. A limited amount of data suggests that high non-segregation frequencies may occur in the offspring of putative X/X/X and X/O females. These results suggest the existence of non-homologous (distributive) pairing in L. cuprina females.