Causes no embryonic phenotype even when homozygous mutant embryos develop from homozygous mutant mothers. Affects the eye, abdomen and leg. About 1% of ommatidia are reversed in the anterior-posterior axis of the eye. A duplication of T3 and T4 tarsal joint structures are seen. Denticle belt morphology and denticle orientation remains wild-type.

Legs of flies raised at 19^oC highly condensed with incomplete joints, haphazard bristle pattern, occasional increase in number of bristle rows and absence of some prominent markers. Flies unable to walk and soon get stuck in food. In pk^sple-3 flies raised at 28^oC 53% of legs, though apparently normal, display abnormalities such as swollen second, third, and fourth tarsal segments, abnormal tarsal joints and reversals in bristle orientation in the middle of every segment; such flies able to walk and breed. About 30% of legs show phenotype intermediate between the two phenotypes described above. Mutant phenotype expressed in the homeotic legs of Antp and ss^a; also expressed in mitotic clones.