The green-brown polymorphism of the club-legged grasshopper Gomphocerus sibiricus is heritable and appears genetically simple.
Holger SchielzethPetra DiekerPublished in: BMC evolutionary biology (2020)
Overall, our data demonstrate that the two polymorphisms are heritable in the club-legged grasshopper and appear genetically simple, at least with respect to green morphs. The results are consistent with the idea that the synthesis or transport of a pigment involved in the production of green coloration (likely biliverdin) is lost by homozygosity for loss-of-function alleles in brown individuals. The apparently simple genetic architecture of the green-brown polymorphism offer potential for studying balancing selection in the field and for genetic mapping in this species.