Hemizygotes survive to the third larval instar. The larvae have a crawling defect which results in complete paralysis with the heads of the larvae poking up out of the food. swDic-2/sw1 flies have a mild wing phenotype at 28oC.
The area of the retina of late third instar Gl1/+ larvae devoid of nuclei is significantly increased by swDic-2/+. This is not due to cell death, but instead due increased migration of nuclei into the optic stalk.