Drosophilidae

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Drosophilidae
Lordiphosa andalusiaca.jpg
Lordiphosa andalusiaca
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Superfamily: Ephydroidea
Family: Drosophilidae
Rondani, 1856
Subfamily

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. [1] 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. [2] 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, [3] along with D. sechellia for the evolution of host specialization on the toxic noni fruit [4] and Scaptomyza flava for the evolution of herbivory and specialist on toxic mustard leaves. [5]

Contents

Economic significance

Generally, drosophilids are considered to be nuisance flies rather than pests, since most species breed in rotting material. Zaprionus indianus is unusual among Drosophilidae species in being a serious, primary pest of at least one commercial fruit, figs in Brazil. [6] Another species, Drosophila suzukii , infests thin-skinned fruit such as raspberries and cherries and can be a serious agricultural pest. [7] The leaf mining Scaptomyza flava , which is nested in the genus Drosophila phylogenetically, is an obligate leaf miner of mustard plants, including the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana [5] and is a major pest of salad brassicas in New Zealand and an emerging pest of canola in the UK. [8] Drosophila repleta larvae inhabit drains and spread bacteria. Fruit flies in general are considered as a common vector in propagating acetic acid bacteria [9] in nature. This often ruins the alcohol fermentation process and can ruin beer or wine by turning it into vinegar. There are sinking traps available on the market for this nuisance, but one quick way to strongly limit the extent of it is to vacuum clean the flies both at rest and in their slow flight.

Identification

The diagnostic characteristics for Drosophilidae include the presence of an incomplete subcostal vein, two breaks in the costal vein, a small anal cell in the wing, convergent postocellar bristles; and usually three frontal bristles on each side of the head, one directed forward and the other two directed rearward. More extensive identification characteristics can be found in "Drosophila: A Guide to Species Identification and Use" by Therese A. Markow and Patrick O'Grady, (Academic Press, 2005) ISBN   0-12-473052-3 or "Drosophila: A Laboratory Handbook" by M. Ashburner, K. Golic, S. Hawley, (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 2005).

Anti-parasitic behavior

Of their many defenses against parasites, when Drosophila melanogaster flies see female larval endoparasitoid wasps, they switch to laying their eggs in alcohol-laden food sources such as rotting fruit. Doing so protects the flies from becoming host to the larvae, as the wasps have a low alcohol tolerance. This oviposition behavior change only occurs upon seeing the female wasp larva and does not take place in the presence of the male wasp larva. [10]

Mutualism

There is evidence to support that pathogens living within certain flies are beneficial to the behavior and survival of the host. One such example of this is in the fly Scaptomyza flava, which carries the pathogen Pseudomonas syringae in exchange for the pathogen damaging the anti-herbivore defenses of main food source for the fly, plants in the family Brassicaceae. [11]

Phylogeny

The family contains more than 4,000 species classified under 75 genera. Recently, a comprehensive phylogenetic classification of the genera based on both molecular and morphological characters has been published. [12]

Related Research Articles

<i>Drosophila</i> Genus of flies

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drosophilinae</span> Subfamily of flies

The Drosophilinae are the largest subfamily in the Drosophilidae. The other subfamily is the Steganinae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steganinae</span> Subfamily of flies

The SteganinaeHendel, 1917, is the smaller of two subfamilies in the fruit fly family Drosophilidae. The other subfamily is the Drosophilinae.

<i>Hirtodrosophila</i> Genus of flies

Hirtodrosophila is a genus of fruit flies from the family Drosophilidae. Originally Hirtodrosophila was a subgenus of the genus Drosophila. It was raised to the status of genus by Grimaldi in 1990.

Fruit fly may refer to:

<i>Drosophila suzukii</i> Species of fly

Drosophila suzukii, commonly called the spotted wing drosophila or SWD, is a fruit fly. D. suzukii, originally from southeast Asia, is becoming a major pest species in America and Europe, because it infests fruit early during the ripening stage, in contrast with other Drosophila species that infest only rotting fruit.

<i>Drosophila</i> (subgenus) Subgenus of flies

Drosophila is a paraphyletic subgenus of the genus Drosophila, a classification of fruit flies. This subgenus was first described by Alfred Sturtevant in 1939. Members of the subgenus Drosophila can be distinguished from other Drosophilid species by breaks in the pigmentation along the dorsal section of their abdomen.

<i>Zaprionus</i> Genus of flies

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.

<i>Scaptomyza flava</i> Species of fly

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.

<i>Chymomyza</i> Genus of flies

Chymomyza is a genus of vinegar flies.

<i>Scaptomyza</i> Genus of flies

Scaptomyza is a genus of vinegar flies, insects in the family Drosophilidae. As of 2022, there are 273 described species of Scaptomyza. Of those, 148 are endemic to the Hawaiian archipelago. This genus is part of the species-rich lineage of Hawaiian Drosophilidae, and is the sister lineage to the endemic Hawaiian Drosophila. The genus Scaptomyza is one of several nested within the paraphyletic genus Drosophila.

<i>Curtonotum</i> Genus of flies

Curtonotum is a genus of flies in the family Curtonotidae. There are more than 50 described species in Curtonotum.

<i>Zaprionus tuberculatus</i> Species of fly

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.

Hawaiian <i>Drosophila</i> Group of flies

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.

<i>Amiota</i> Genus of flies

Amiota is a genus of flies belonging to the family Drosophilidae. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution.

References

  1. Markow, Ann Therese (2006). Drosophila : a guide to species identification and use. Elsevier. ISBN   0-08-045409-7. OCLC   74908130.
  2. Mohr, Stephanie Elizabeth (2018). First in fly: Drosophila research and biological discovery. Harvard University Press. ISBN   978-0-674-97101-1. OCLC   1034915732.
  3. Krimbas, C.B. & Loukas,M.(1980) Inversion Polymorphism of Drosophila subobscura Evol.Biol.12,163-234.
  4. Jones, Corbin D., "The genetics of adaptation in Drosophila sechellia", Georgia Genetics Review III, Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag, pp. 137–145, retrieved 2021-12-18
  5. 1 2 Whiteman, Noah K.; Groen, Simon C.; Chevasco, Daniela; Bear, Ashley; Beckwith, Noor; Gregory, T. Ryan; Denoux, Carine; Mammarella, Nicole; Ausubel, Frederick M.; Pierce, Naomi E. (2010-11-13). "Mining the plant-herbivore interface with a leafmining Drosophila of Arabidopsis". Molecular Ecology. 20 (5): 995–1014. doi:10.1111/j.1365-294x.2010.04901.x. ISSN   0962-1083. PMC   3062943 .
  6. "Pest Alerts - Zaprionus indianus Gupta, DPI". Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Archived from the original on 2013-10-12. Retrieved 2013-10-05.
  7. Drosophila suzukii Center of Invasive Species Research
  8. Martin, N. A. (January 2004). "History of an invader,Scaptomyza flava(Fallen, 1823) (Diptera: Drosophilidae)". New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 31 (1): 27–32. doi: 10.1080/03014223.2004.9518356 . ISSN   0301-4223.
  9. Vinegars of the World. Chapter 5. ISBN   978-88-470-0865-6
  10. Kacsoh BZ; Lynch ZR; Mortimer NT; Schlenke TA (Feb 2013). "fruit flies medicate offspring after seeing parasites". Science. 339 (6122): 947–950. Bibcode:2013Sci...339..947K. doi:10.1126/science.1229625. PMC   3760715 . PMID   23430653.
  11. Groen, Simon C.; Humphrey, Parris T.; Chevasco, Daniela; Ausubel, Frederick M.; Pierce, Naomi E.; Whiteman, Noah K. (January 2016). "Pseudomonas syringae enhances herbivory by suppressing the reactive oxygen burst in Arabidopsis". Journal of Insect Physiology. 84: 90–102. doi:10.1016/j.jinsphys.2015.07.011. ISSN   1879-1611. PMC   4721946 . PMID   26205072.
  12. Yassin, Amir (2013). "Phylogenetic classification of the Drosophilidae Rondani (Diptera): The role of morphology in the postgenomic era". Systematic Entomology. 38 (2): 349–364. doi:10.1111/j.1365-3113.2012.00665.x.