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posterity

nikkieli

Senior Member
Bulgaria, Bulgarian
Hi, everyone,

'These traits can be expected to be present in the posterity of genetically different parents.'

The above refers to breeds of the mulberry silkworm. While 'parents' is ok, I'm not sure about the use of 'posterity' here. Please, tell me what the right word is.
Thank you
Yeah, you're right, posterity doesn't sound right here. What do you actually mean? And do you just mean mum and dad, or do you mean further back?
I mean the next generation.
If you mean only the next generation, I would say that. "Posterity" means the line of descendants, not just the next generation.
Nikkeili said:
I mean the next generation.

Ah, if you're referring to those generations which come after, solely, then use progeny.
You know, and I may be showing my ignorance, I had always thought posterity referred to time, not generations [but I just looked it up in the dictionary].
So:'These traits can be expected to be present in the generations of genetically different parents.'?
The original sentence is not mine, so I can only make wild guesses about the author's intentions. But, as a whole, and judging from the context, I presume these traits will be inherited and will stay in the next generations.
I now think the original sentence would be OK, after looking up the definitition of posterity.

However, I would more naturally say:

These traits can be expected to be present in successive generations.
So, the ultimate think to do is to make it clear whether 'posterity' can be applied to the domain of insects.
But, I googled for 'silkworm' and 'posterity' at one go and it didn't seem that they can be combined.
Thank you all for your help. It seems I'll just have to contact the author of the article.
Posterity is now a rather abstract concept that I would have difficulty associating with insects.
For the children of insect parents, I suggest offspring or progeny.
For children, grandchildren, etc - progeny or descendants.

I like NZF's alternative structure.
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