Studies on factors biasing the primary sex ratio toward females in the oriental tea tortrix, Homona magnanima (Lepidoptera : Trotricidae)

在日本茨木筑波的东方茶卷蛾（Homona magnanima，鳞翅目：卷蛾科）中发现了雌性偏向的性比。全雌品系和正常品系的平均卵孵化率无差异。超过50%的死亡率观察到的所有女性菌株的幼虫，这表明，只有女性的育雏产生的结果，男性后期杀害。女性偏向的性别比例是母系遗传和维护，即使当女性回交与男性的正常应变，从而牵连细胞质寄生的原因。这种现象在抗生素存在的情况下是持续的，并且不是由于引起其他雄性死亡现象的病原体（如立克次体、沃尔巴克氏体、螺原体或原生动物寄生虫）的感染。当全雌性菌株的死亡雄性幼虫的匀浆接种在正常菌株幼虫中时，这种雄性杀死特性被传递给下一代;因此，其病原体也可能水平传播。

A female-biased sex ratio was found in the oriental tea tortrix, Homona magnanima (Lepidoptera : Tortricidae), in Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan. There was no difference in mean egg hatch between the all-female and normal strains. Greater than 50% mortality was observed in the all-female strain larvae, suggesting that female-only broods are produced as a result of late male-killing. The female-biased sex ratio was maternally inherited and maintained, even when females were backcrossed with males of the normal strain, thus implicating cytoplasmic parasitism as its cause. The phenomenon was persistent in the presence of antibiotics, and was not due to infection by agents that cause other male-killing phenomena, such as Rickettsia, Wolbachia, Spiroplasma, or protozoan parasites. When a homogenate of dead male larvae of the all-female strain was inoculated in normal strain larvae, this male-killing trait was transmitted to the next generation ; thus, its causative agent is likely transmitted horizontally as well.