Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So I've got a pretty good grip on how morphs work genetically.. But for some reason (& I feel like an idiot) I can't quite put a handle on this one. There must be something I'm missing..

Bumblebee x Normal = ..?
so then Killerbee x Normal = ..?

.. sorry for being a bit slow at this one .. thanks in advance for any help!

-Tami*

bumble bee x normal = pastels , spiders , bumble bees , normals
killer bee x normal = pastels , bumble bees
no normals on the killer because it is a super pastel
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Jeff Stringer

A bumblebee is a double het spider and pastel. The two genes are independent so can be figured separately and the results overplayed at the end.

So like any het X normal breeding you get 50% chance het and 50% chance normal for the respective gene. Just remember that spiders and pastels are hets so have one mutant copy and one normal copy of their separate respective genes.

So for the spider side we are looking at 50% chance spider and 50% chance normal for spider.

For the pastel side likewise 50% chance pastel and 50% chance normal for pastel.

When you overlay the two results you are looking at:

25% chance bumblebee
25% chance spider
25% chance pastel
25% chance normal

Now with the killer bee we are looking at a homozygous pastel and heterozygous spider.

As with any homozygous X normal breeding you get 100% hets so on the pastel side all the offspring are pastels (hets for the pastel mutation).

On the spider side again we are looking at a het X normal breeding so 50% chance spider and 50% chance normal for spider.

Overlaying the two we get:

50% chance bumble bee
50% chance pastel

Should be, Pastels, Spiders and normals for both!

Ooops, forgot BB themselves!

Thanks guys!

I think my confusion lies in the different locations of the 2 genes (spider and pastel). But either one of these genes, being codominant, will mask the normal/wild type gene.. Am I correct?

& then.. both of those traits being heterozygous.. there still lends a chance that 2 normal/wild type genes will match up to make your run-of-the-mill normal..

Does that mean I'm correct in assuming that a homozygous spider (since there's no "super spider" would decrease the chance of a normal/wild type hatchling?

Don't worry I'm not indiscriminantly breeding, just trying to understand the logic.

-Tami*

You've got it, two separate gene locations. At the pastel locus the bumblebee has 1 pastel mutant version and 1 normal for pastel version. Likewise, at the separate spider locus it has 1 mutant spider version and 1 normal for spider version. This is what it means to be a double het. Just remember there are many many "normal" genes, not just one. So from the bumblebee X normal breeding there is the 25% chance of getting both the normal for spider and the normal for pastel versions of those two separate genes from the bumblebee.

But with the killer bee there is no normal for pastel version to give since the killer bee is homozygous pastel so all babies at least get pastel.

There is no public proven homozygous spider so it's theoretical but if there could be a homozygous spider (it might be homozygous lethal) it would produce 100% spiders just like the homozygous pastel (super) produces 100% pastels with a normal.

Thanks so much Randy!

You've been extremely helpful. I love to have it explained to me rather than simply being told my odds (although that helps too, thanks to those who replied!)

& so it goes "feed a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."

-Tami*