none Helicoverpa zea; HYMENOPTERAN-PARASITES; Microplitis croceipes; Parasite wing colour mutant characterization Microplitis croceipes; WINGS-; Colour mutant characterization; COLOUR-; Mutant characterization; GENETICS-; Inheritance of wing colour mutant; MUTATION-; COLOUR-VARIATION; Lepidopteran host; LEPIDOPTERAN-HOSTS; Helicoverpa zea; Wing colour mutant characterization The haplodiploid parasitoid Microplitis croceipes (Cresson) normally occurs with a dark-pigmented, patterned wing. Here, we describe a clear wing color mutant defined by the allele cw, which has an abnormal wing pigmentation. The mutant phenotype is controlled by a single recessive gene. The cw gene may have an epistatic effect on the expression of the black abdomen gene, Bad, when both genes exist in the genome. Under electron microscope examination, individuals of the cw mutant strain were also found to have abnormal foot morphology, which affected their ability to cling to the sidewalls of colony cages.