Abstract
From six captures of Drosophila melanogaster carried out in three different habitats (cellar, vineyard, and pinewood) in two different seasons of the year (spring and autumn), 60 eye-colour mutations were isolated, which were reduced to 29 loci by means of allelism tests within and between populations. Forty-five of these mutations were analyzed genetically and biochemically; of these 33 turned out to be previously described mutants and mapped to a total of 17 loci. Twelve new mutants were discovered and they mapped to 12 new loci, distributed on chromosome X, II, and III. The eye-colour mutants show large effects on the red and brown pigments. The high variability of the eye-colour loci is discussed in relation to the mutation and selection hypotheses.
