Abstract
Geographic variation in the frequency of the melanic varieties of the two-spot ladybird, Adalia bipunctata, has been reported or reviewed by several authors, covering much of the insect’s range, including continental Europe (Lusis 1961), Britain (Hawkes 1920, 1927; Creed 1966, 1969) and Canada (Smith 1958). Surveys sufficiently detailed to permit conclusions to be drawn about the causes of local, and hence of general, variation have been undertaken by Lusis in Latvia and around Leningrad and by myself in southern Britain and central Scotland. We both found the melanics to be relatively more numerous in industrial areas. Lusis also concluded that melanics were more common in regions with a maritime climate, and I suggested that in Britain some unidentified factor favoured the melanics towards the north and west.
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Creed, E.R. (1971). Melanism in the Two-spot Ladybird, Adalia bipunctata, in Great Britain. In: Creed, R. (eds) Ecological Genetics and Evolution. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-0432-7_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-0432-7_7
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