50 years of studying the scarlet tiger moth.

A growing number of long-term studies in plant and animal ecological genetics is now rewarding the patience, perseverance and perspicacity of those involved. A handful have involved work spanning 30 years and more, with an initial major impact on the way the study of population biology has developed. It is 50 years since investigation of the medionigra form of the scarlet tiger moth began, and in spite of very low allele frequencies and population numbers the medionigra allele persists in the original population. It is only by such long-term studies that we will be able to obtain more than just a cursory understanding of what really happens in natural populations of plants and animals.