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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jesse" data-source="post: 3397" data-attributes="member: 16"><p>A lot of people assume inbreeding is harmful to insects and other invertebrates, but this is not necessarily true.  As far as I know/last I checked,  there is no hard evidence that proves inbreeding is harmful to insect populations. A matter of fact many exotic/introduced insects were introduced in very small numbers or from the same eggcases and have flourished in their new habitats despite very low genetic variation.  A lot of people attribute lost cultures/weak cultures to the effect of inbreeding, but that may not be the case at all (I could list examples but I won't at this time).  There are some people that have kept the same bloodline of a species of mantid for many, many generations and still have yet to notice any ill effects.  There are many examples of other insect cultures that have been inbred for up to 5 decades without any harmful effects.</p></blockquote><p></p>