Neuromere b1 is absent or reduced in all embryos.
Median ocellus is displaced anteriorly and is smaller. The pattern of interocellar and ocellar bristles is disturbed. The distance between the two lateral ocelli and between the two postvertical bristles is increased.
The dorsal arms of the head skeleton are absent or fragmented in mutant embryos. The antennal segment is missing.
Defects in head development and segmental patterning. Abnormal neuropil. Aberrant commissure formation in each segment. The disappearance of neurons labelled by P{A92}45C demonstrates that cell death is restricted to identified neurons associated with the midline of the CNS.
The effects of the ocotd-XD87 mutation on the spatial expression of hh and wg during embryogenesis have been investigated.