Degree of genetic variability in field populations can vary greatly depending on geographic origin or species history. This variation is reflected in the genetic profile of colonies established from the field. In the colonization process, heterozygosity is often reduced, although loss in heterogeneity can be masked by development of balanced polymorphisms. Strict, brother-sister inbreeding regimes applied to Aedes mosquitoes produced results not predicted by inbreeding theory and Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Much higher levels of genetic polymorphism were retained, and diminished numbers of homozygotes in segregating alleles were common. Lethal genes have been recognized by linkage mapping with several enzyme loci. Their presence points to the possibility of balanced lethals as one mechanism for maintenance of heterozygosity in inbred lines.
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Leonard E. Munstermann (1994) studied this question.