Genetics of Torties?

Simple question: Is it only Calicos that are super rare in males, or do torties(black and red) fall around the same lines?

Edit: I was under the impression that colors, at least in siamese, are only on the X chromosomes. Hmmm.

Any of the tri-colors of black/red/cream or blue/cream or patched tabbys are generally females (calicos are really torties with white on them).

Simple genetics. The color is carried on the X gene; females have 2 X's and males have 1 X.

Moms (because they have 2 color genes) can give color to both the sons and the daughters. Dads (one color gene) can only pass color to the daughters.

So if mom is a black and dad is a red - any daughters would be a tortie (one black, one red). And the sons would be black (from mom).

Now if mom is a tortie (black/red) and dad's a red - then you get more possiblities:
females - tortie (one black/one red)
females - red - (one red from mom, one red from dad)
males - either red or black (from mom)

See, that's why I was confused. I thought that I was just mistaken, though I was pretty sure that I had a working knowledge of genetics..

I recently bred my queen, Trina, to a cat that I would swear is a tortie. He seems like he has a perpetual sun spot on his head--the rest of him is gray/slightly tawny due to what I believe to be red, there was just a lighter spot on his head. According to the owner of the stud, he's sired many kittens of great qualities. I suppose it could have been a very light brown, but I always thought that to be a form of red.. or am I mistaken there?

Somewhere something is strange. Hmm. It bothers me that it only just NOW struck me. Sigh.

If he's a blue, it could be the more creamish/beige undertones that blues sometimes have. I know that blue tabbys have this beige undertone that can be mistaken for "cream". Do you have a picture of him?

While there ARE male torties its even rarer to have one that produces offspring - usually they are sterile. I personally know of 3 cases of male calicos. Two are cornish rexes and both have sired kittens. The other was a bluecream household pet.

I suppose that could very well be the case. That undertone could very well appear reddish, I'm sure.

We'll see. It's nice to have that at least somewhat settled! Thanks so much for your assistance.