Hyperdivergent haplotypes control melanic camouflage in a polymorphic moth.

Hyperdivergent haplotypes at the ivory:mir-193 non-coding RNA locus strongly differentiate Light and Dark morphs in Anticarsia gemmatalis, controlling melanic scale pigmentation.

• Why it matters: Melanic camouflage varies within species, but the genetic mechanisms linking heritable color polymorphisms to development and patterning remain difficult to dissect.
• What they did: Using genome-wide association mapping, expression profiling, and CRISPR loss-of-function, the study tested the ivory promoter and the mir-193 hairpin region and measured effects on melanic development.
• The result: ivory:mir-193 expression prefigures each morph’s adult melanic pattern, and CRISPR disruption of either regulatory element abolishes melanic scale pigmentation, showing the lnc-pri-miRNA module is required for dark-scale differentiation.

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