Drosophila is a genus of flies, belonging to the family Drosophilidae, whose members are often called "small fruit flies" or pomace flies, vinegar flies, or wine flies, a reference to the characteristic of many species to linger around overripe or rotting fruit. They should not be confused with the Tephritidae, a related family, which are also called fruit flies ; tephritids feed primarily on unripe or ripe fruit, with many species being regarded as destructive agricultural pests, especially the Mediterranean fruit fly.
The Drosophilidae are a diverse, cosmopolitan family of flies, which includes species called fruit flies, although they are more accurately referred to as vinegar or pomace flies. Another distantly related family of flies, Tephritidae, are true fruit flies because they are frugivorous, and include apple maggot flies and many pests. The best known species of the Drosophilidae is Drosophila melanogaster, within the genus Drosophila, also called the "fruit fly." Drosophila melanogaster is used extensively for studies concerning genetics, development, physiology, ecology and behaviour. Many fundamental biological mechanisms were discovered first in D. melanogaster. The fruit fly is mostly composed of post-mitotic cells, has a very short lifespan, and shows gradual aging. As in other species, temperature influences the life history of the animal. Several genes have been identified that can be manipulated to extend the lifespan of these insects. Additionally, Drosophila subobscura, also within the genus Drosophila, has been reputed as a model organism for evolutionary-biological studies, along with D. sechellia for the evolution of host specialization on the toxic noni fruit and Scaptomyza flava for the evolution of herbivory and specialist on toxic mustard leaves.
The Drosophilinae are the largest subfamily in the Drosophilidae. The other subfamily is the Steganinae.
The Drosophila melanogaster species group belongs to the subgenus Sophophora and contains 10 subgroups. The phylogeny in this species group is poorly known despite many studies covering many of the species subgroups. The most likely explanation is that the various subgroups diverged from each other in a relatively short evolutionary time frame. Three subgroups have not yet been investigated in molecular studies, and their position in the phylogeny is unclear. The suzukii subgroup is paraphyletic as D. lucipennis is systematically placed within the elegans subgroup.
The paraphyletic subgenus Sophophora of the genus Drosophila was first described by Alfred Sturtevant in 1939. It contains the best-known drosophilid species, Drosophila melanogaster. Sophophora translates as carrier (phora) of wisdom (sophos). The subgenus is paraphyletic because the genus Lordiphosa and the species Hirtodrosophila duncani are also placed within this subgenus.
The subgenus Siphlodora belongs to genus Drosophila and consists of two species that share a sigmoid-shaped posterior crossvein. Phylogenetically, the subgenus is positioned within the virilis-repleta radiation.
Hirtodrosophila duncani is a North American fruit fly, a member of the fungus-breeding genus Hirtodrosophila. Its taxonomic position has been unclear for a long time due to its unique male genitalia, but recent molecular studies indicate that it is closely related to the New World Sophophora.
The immigrans-tripunctata radiation is a speciose lineage of Drosophila flies, including over 300 species. The immigrans-tripunctata radiation is a sister lineage to most other members of the subgenus Drosophila. A number of species have had their genomes or transcriptomes sequenced for evolutionary studies using Drosophila.
The genus Zaprionus belongs to the family fruit fly Drosophilidae and is positioned within the paraphyletic genus Drosophila. All species are easily recognized by the white longitudinal stripes across the head and thorax. The genus is subdivided in two subgenera, based on the presence of an even or odd number of white stripes. The species of the genus can be found in Africa and Southern Asia. One species, Zaprionus indianus, has invaded the New World.
Drosophila appendiculata is a large yellowish fruitfly found in Southern Chile and neighboring Argentina. The species is placed in its own unique subgenus, Chusqueophila, based on the presence of three partial cross-veins in the wing.
Drosophila subobscura is a species of fruit fly in the family Drosophilidae. Originally found around the Mediterranean, it has spread to most of Europe and the Near East. It has been introduced into the west coasts of Canada, the United States, and Chile. Its closest relative is Drosophila madeirensis, found in the Madeira Islands, followed by D. guanche, found in the Canary Islands. These three species form the D. subobscura species subgroup. When they mate, males and females perform an elaborate courtship dance, in which the female can either turn away to end the mating ritual, or stick out her proboscis in response to the male's, allowing copulation to proceed. D. subobscura has been regarded as a model organism for its use in evolutionary-biological studies.
Scaptomyza flava is an herbivorous leaf mining fly species in the family Drosophilidae. In Latin, flava means golden or yellow. The fly is amber to dark brown in color and approximately 2.5 mm in length. In Europe and New Zealand the larvae are pests of plants in the order Brassicales, including arugula, brassicas, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, bok choy, cabbage, canola, cauliflower, horseradish, kale, kohlrabi, napa cabbage, nasturtium, radish, rapini, rutabaga, turnip, wasabi and watercress. In New Zealand, its range has expanded to include host species that are intercropped with salad brassicas, including gypsophila, otherwise known as baby's breath, which is in the pink family (Caryophyllaceae) and the pea in the Fabaceae. More typically, S. flava is oligophagous within the Brassicales. Scaptomyza are unusual within the Drospophilidae because the group includes species that are truly herbivorous. Other herbivorous drosophilids include D. suzukii, which attacks fruit very early during ripening and species within the genus Lordiphosa, from Africa and Asia, which also include leaf miners. Most drosophilids feed on microbes associated with decaying vegetation and sap fluxes.
Chymomyza is a genus of vinegar flies.
Lordiphosa is a genus of fly in the family Drosophilidae.
The Drosophila testacea species group belongs to the Immigrans-tripunctata radiation of the subgenus Drosophila, and contains 4 species: Drosophila putrida, Drosophila neotestacea, Drosophila testacea, and Drosophila orientacea. Testacea species are specialist mushroom-feeding flies, and can metabolize toxic compounds in Amanita mushrooms. The Testacea species group is studied for its specialist ecology, population genetics, and bacterial endosymbionts. The North American species Drosophila neotestacea is perhaps the best-studied of the group for its interactions with parasitic wasps and nematodes, bacterial endosymbionts, and trypanosomatid parasites. Of note, selfish X chromosomes have been discovered in three of the four Testacea group species.
The Drosophila immigrans species group is a polyphyletic and speciose lineage of Drosophila flies, including over 100 species. Immigrans species belong to the Immigrans-tripunctata radiation of the subgenus Drosophila. Well-described species include Drosophila immigrans, and the sister species Drosophila albomicans and Drosophila nasuta. The genome of D. albomicans was sequenced in 2012 in an effort to characterize novel sex chromosome development in D. albomicans. Immigrans group species are related to mushroom-breeding Drosophila of the Quinaria and Testacea species groups.
Zaprionus tuberculatus is a member of the subgenus and genus Zaprionus, family Drosophilidae, and order Diptera. It is an invasive fruit fly that originated in Africa, but can also be found in Europe and Asia. The fly earned its common name, the "vinegar fly", because researchers frequently captured the species using vinegar traps. Z. tuberculatus was previously considered a strictly tropical fly, but evidence of invasion to nontropical regions such as Turkey has been shown.
The Hawaiian Drosophilidae are a lineage of flies within the genus Drosophila. This monophyletic clade includes all of the endemic Hawaiian Drosophila and all members of the genus Scaptomyza, which contains both Hawaiian and non-Hawaiian species. The Hawaiian Drosophilidae are descended from a common ancestor estimated to have lived 25 million years ago. Species of Hawaiian Drosophilidae flies have been studied as models of speciation and behavioral evolution. Along with other members of the native Hawaiian ecosystem, the conservations status of many species of Hawaiian Drosophilidae is threatened by habitat loss and introduced predators, among other factors.
Drosophila puberula is a species of fly in the subgenus Dudaica.
Drosophila senilis is a species of fly; it is the type species of the subgenus Dudaica.
