The cell lineage of the muscles of the Drosophila head

Using a cell marker mutation the cell lineage of the muscles of the Drosophila head are traced out. Three sets of muscles separated by lineage restrictions are observed, even when cells are marked as early as the blastoderm stage. Each set underlies the derivatives of one of the three pairs of imaginal discs which differentiate to form the epidermis of the adult head. Clones of the homoeotic mutation engrailed (en10) were apparently normal in the muscles of the head. The muscle clone frequency, at the blastoderm stage, in each hemisegment of the fly is similar, indicating an equal partitioning of cells during segmentation.