Conditions for balanced polymorphism in the presence of differential delay in developmental time

The effect of differential development on the genetic properties of a population is studied. A specific model applicable to a wide variety of insect populations is used and the conditions under which the population is polymorphic when differential delay in developmental time is present are investigated. It is found that polymorphism is present for a very wide range of selection. The effect of the delay is to introduce frequency dependent factors and thus to maintain polymorphism even in the absence of heterosis. The results are applied to experimental data on the moth species Gonodontis bidentata and on the Canberra strain of the housefly, Musca domestica.