Approximately one-third of homozygous larvae survive beyond day 8 after egg laying, a period when the control larvae have already pupated. A small fraction of the homozygous larvae survive for more than 3 weeks without pupating.
Homozygous larvae are thinner and shorter than control larvae at 4 days after egg laying. The mouth hooks of these animals are more similar to those of wild-type second instar larvae, whereas control animals at this time have entered the third larval instar stage.
Homozygous second-third instar larvae show impaired motor function, showing a smaller distance travelled in the 20 seconds after movement was stimulated with a needle than control larvae.
