Drosophila (Sophophora) bunnanda Schiffer & Mcevey, 2006, sp. nov.

<i>Drosophila (Sophophora) bunnanda</i> sp. nov. <p> = “ <i>Drosophila (Sophophora)</i> species B” of McEvey 1993, p. 162. = “northern <i>D. serrata</i> ” of Kelemen & Moritz 1999</p> <p> = “cryptic species” of Schiffer <i>et al.</i> 2004</p> <p> = “ <i>Drosophila</i> species X” of Kellett & McKechnie 2005 = “ <i>D.</i> species <i>x</i> ” Kellermann <i>et al</i>. 2006</p> <p> not <i>Drosophila (Sophophora)</i> sp. cf. <i>jambulina</i> of Bock 1976, p. 269.</p> <p> <b>Type material</b>. Type culture founding females from vicinity of Lake Placid, Queensland (LPX), collected 21 Mar 2001, culture maintained at La Trobe University, Melbourne. Holotype ♂ in AM, registered K118082: Qld Lake Placid, 16°52’04”S 145°40’23”E, r’forest, ex strain LPX, founded Mar 2001, [pinned] 27.ii.2002, M. Schiffer. Paratypes (26 ♂♂, 13 ΨΨ): same data as holotype but registered as follows: 13 ♂♂ AM K104870–73, K10549 –53, K105055–56, K118134–35, 5 ΨΨ AM K118136–40; 21 same data as holotype, but pinned 20.ii.2002: 1♂ AM K104864, 3 ♂♂ ANIC (Reg. 16475–16477), 3 ♂♂ UQIC (Reg. 16478–16480), 3 ♂♂ QM (Reg. 16481–16483), 3 ♂♂ AMNH (Reg. 16484–16486), 4 ΨΨ AM K104865–66, K104868–69, 1 Ψ ANIC (Reg. 16491), 1 Ψ UQIC (Reg. 16492), 1 Ψ QM (Reg. 16493), 1 Ψ AMNH (Reg. 16494). Partial ND5 sequence data of a type culture specimen has previously been submitted to GenBank, Accession Number: AY345231 (Schiffer <i>et al.</i> 2004).</p> <p> <b>Other material examined</b>. 1 ♂ Qld, Heathlands, Bertie Creek pump, 11°46’S 142°36’E, fruit, 10 Mar 1992, S.F. McEvey, Reg. 9141, AM. 1 ♂ Qld, Heathlands, Doublemouth Creek, 11°37’S 142°49’E, swept, 22 Mar 1992, S.F. McEvey, Reg. 10129, AM. Holotype of <i>Drosophila serrata</i>, AM K73197 (formerly held in SPHTM), ♂, Eidsvold, Qld [25.4°S], 2 April 1924, Bancroft. Holotype of <i>Drosophila birchii</i>, AM K70574 ♂ [rain forest of the Crystal Cascade Park (Dobzhansky & Mather 1961)] Cairns, Qld, 1961, Dobzhansky & Mather, and allotype with same data, AM K70575. 2 ♂♂ of Bock’s (1977) “ <i>Drosophila</i> sp cf <i>jambulina</i> ” with label-data: Townsville Qld, banana bait, Jan/ Feb 1976, I.R. Bock, Reg. 21753–21754. <i>Drosophila kikkawai</i>: 5 ΨΨ ex culture, Townsville, Qld, baited Feb 1976, I.R. Bock; 23 (both sexes) Townsville, Qld, banana bait, Jan/ Feb 1976, I.R. Bock; 16 ♂♂ and 9 ΨΨ Qld Cairns, 16°52’44”S 145°44’40”E, urban, ex strain [La Trobe University] FBK, founded Aug 2001, 20.ii.2002, Schiffer.</p> <p>Numerous additional field observations of this species were made at the following localities (there are no museum voucher specimens, all determined by Schiffer, collected by Schiffer unless otherwise indicated): “Joleka”, Townsville (Mar 2001, 2002); Kirrama (Oct 1999; Mar 2001, 2002); Lake Barrine (Mar 2001, 2002); Gordonvale (Oct 1999); Goomboora Park (Cairns) (Sep 2003, Dean); Kamerunga Island (Nov 2002); Lake Placid (Oct 1999; Mar 2000, 2001, 2002; Nov 2002); Lake Placid (Nov 2000, Mitrovski); Lake Placid (Aug 2001, Hallas); Lake Placid (Sep 2003, Dean); Mossman Gorge (Oct 1999, Blows and Kelemen); Good Shepherd (Mossman) (Oct 1999; Mar 2001, 2002); Daintree River (Blows and Kelemen); Cowbay, Rykers Creek and Emmagen River (Cape Tribulation) (Nov 2000; Mar 2001, 2002; Mitrovski); Mount Cook, Botanical Gardens and Endeavour Falls (Cooktown) (Mar 2001, 2002; Nov 2002; also Sep 2003, Dean); Iron Range NP (Mar 2002).</p> <p> <b>Distinguishing features.</b> Coarsely setulose primary clasper (surstylus); secondary clasper with only 2 large curved spines, not circular; short submedian spines on caudal margin of novasternum, the latter margin not bicornute and not strongly convex; male abdomen tan, not blackened posteriorly.</p> <p> <b>Description.</b></p> <p>Body length: 1.9 mm.</p> <p>Head: Arista with 4 branches above and 2–3 below plus a terminal fork. Frontal width and length subequal (fw:fl = 1.0), tapered anteriorly, yellowish tan, orbits slightly darker and subshining. Pedicel and first flagellomere also yellowish tan, face whitish. Head width 2.5 times frontal width. Orbitals in approximate ratio 7:2:7. Eyes with dense, short, pile.</p> <p>Thorax: Brown. Acrostichal hairs in 6 rows in front of anterior dorsocentral setae, 4 irregular rows between dorsocentrals. Ratio anterior/posterior dorsocentrals 0.6. Sternoindex 0.5. Sex comb of males in two longitudinal and unequal parts (Fig. 9): the larger proximal comb lies along the entire length of the metatarsus and is unevenly curved and the smaller distal comb lies along the second tarsal segment and is smoothly curved. The proximal comb has 12–13 robust loosely-spaced teeth and one or two terminal teeth out of line with the others. The teeth of the basal half of the proximal comb are tightly appressed, as are those of the distal comb.</p> <p>Wing: Hyaline. C-index, 2.0; 4v-index, 2.8; 4c-index, 1.5; 5x-index, 3.7; M-index, 1.1; ac-index, 2.7; heavy setation occupies half of the third costal section.</p> <p>Abdomen, male and female. Tergites of males and females yellowish with apical black bands narrowing slightly laterally, terminating prior to the ventral margins.</p> <p> Terminalia male (Figs. 7, 10): Epandrium (genital arch) is broad above with about 8 setae (<i>D. serrata</i> 10) along posterior margin, 10–12 setae below, and a small protuberance (Fig. 8) near the surstylar base, visible in both caudal and lateral views. The surstylus (primary clasper) is free with a discrete slightly curved row of about 5–6 short robust prensisetae basally, separated from about 12 much larger prensisetae spaced irregularly over much of the remaining surface, of these latter teeth or pegs, 3 or 4 form a loosely spaced line extending from near the base to the apex inside the row of short robust prensisetae (Figs. 7, 8). With experience the grossly setigerous surstylus is evident in undissected males at 50× magnification, a character useful for separating this species from others in the <i>D. serrata</i> complex. In addition to the peg-like prensisetae, 2 long strong straight setae arise from the surstylus and terminate near the aedeagal apex. The cercus has about 20 setae more-or-less evenly distributed. There are no short robust setae or pegs along the ventral cercal margin, the largest seta is long, not peg-like, and located close to the basoventral corner. The ventral cercal lobe (secondary clasper) is free, almost rectangular not circular or elliptic, with 2 very large curved black medial teeth and about 6 setae along the lateral margin; the 2 very large teeth are well-separated from the latter.</p> <p>The sides of the hypandrium in ventral view are slightly concave and the parts close to the points of articulation are prominent and angular. The novasternum has two small submedian setae and is without pubescence along the posterior margin. The aedeagus (Figs. 10–11) is hirsute subapically. The dorsal posterior lobe (posterior paramere) is finely serrate with a long smooth finger-like projection (Fig. 11).</p> <p>Terminalia female (Figs. 12–13): The female egg guides have 16–17 short peg-like teeth.</p> <p> <b>Etymology</b>. The name given to this species is from the language of the Tjapukai people; the word “ Bunnanda ” is the name of a fabled water fairy that lives in Lake Placid, a reference to the type locality.</p> <p> <b>Distribution</b> (Fig. 18). Townsville to Heathlands, northeastern Australia.</p> <p> <i>Drosophila bunnanda</i> occurs from Heathlands (11.8°S) through Iron Range National Park (12.7°S) and at predominantly low altitude locations (except Lake Barrine at 739m) to Townsville (19.4°S). The species was absent in the collections of McEvey (Torres Strait, 1981); Bradfield (Northern Territory, 1980); Schug, Gray Smith & McEvey (Thursday Island, 2003); McEvey (Wanigela, Papua New Guinea, 2003); Moulds & Humphrey (New Ireland, 2001); McEvey (Christmas Island, 2003), and Barker, Polak, Starmer & McEvey (New Caledonia, 2000). It appears to be restricted to the Australian mainland, inhabiting tropical rainforest of the northeast coast of Queensland; if its range does extend into New Guinea or surrounding islands then its distribution there may be restricted. Further sampling is required to determine the limit of the northern range of <i>Drosophila bunnanda.</i></p> <p> <b>Remarks</b></p> <p> <i>Drosophila bunnanda</i> most closely resembles <i>D. serrata</i> in the form of the sex comb, and the oblong shape (not circular or rounded) of the secondary clasper which bears just two large curved spines. The two species may be separated by reference to the degree to which the primary clasper is armed with strong peg-like setae (prensisetae)— <i>D. bunnanda</i> is clearly more spinulose. This character together with a more subtle but consistent difference in the pigmentation of the cercus (entirely pale in <i>D. serrata,</i> noticeably darker edges in <i>D. bunnanda</i>) is visible, with experience, at low magnification and therefore useful in sorting anaesthetised male specimens.</p> <p> Microsatellite and mitochondrial DNA markers can reliably differentiate between <i>D. bunnanda</i>, <i>D. birchii</i> and <i>D. serrata</i> of either sex (Schiffer <i>et al.</i> 2004) and also <i>D. kikkawai</i> and <i>D.</i> sp. cf. <i>jambulina</i> (Schiffer unpublished data).</p> <p> The forelegs of <i>D. bunnanda</i> (ex LPX) and <i>D. serrata</i> (ex YS) males have been dissected for detailed comparison of sex combs. Males of the <i>D. serrata</i> complex have a sex comb in two longitudinal and unequal parts: the larger proximal comb lies along the entire length of the metatarsus and is unevenly curved; the smaller distal comb lies along the second tarsal segment and is smoothly curved (Fig. 9). The teeth of the proximal comb are not evenly spaced or of equal size—three kinds can be identified: (<i>a</i>) very fine and densely appressed teeth, impossible to count at 120× magnification, (<i>b</i>) robust looselyspaced teeth, readily distinguished (and countable) at 120× and (<i>c</i>) two or three robust teeth set off from the rest terminally. The distal comb comprises additional tightly appressed teeth in a curved row. <i>Drosophila bunnanda</i> has 12–13 loosely-spaced teeth and Yeppoon <i>D. serrata</i> has nine; this differs from Mather’s (1955, p. 565, fig. 9) illustration of the <i>D. serrata</i> sex comb, he shows a proximal comb with 13 teeth, consequently the Yeppoon <i>D. serrata</i> proximal comb is slightly shorter. The appressed teeth enlarge slightly at the basal end of the distal comb in <i>D. serrata</i> but not in <i>D. bunnanda</i>, we have not established the intraspecific variability of this character. We note that the basal teeth of the proximal comb of <i>D. kikkawai</i> are not so tightly appressed and are fewer in number.</p>Published as part of <i>Schiffer, Michele & Mcevey, Shane F., 2006, Drosophila bunnanda — a new species from northern Australia with notes on other Australian members of the montium subgroup (Diptera: Drosophilidae), pp. 1-23 in Zootaxa 1333</i> on pages 9-13, DOI: <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/174253">10.5281/zenodo.174253</a&gt

Drosophila (Sophophora) serrata Malloch

Drosophila (Sophophora) serrata Malloch Drosophila serrata Malloch, 1927. Proc. Linnean Soc. N.S.W. 52, p. 6. Type locality: Eidsvold, Queensland, Australia. Apart from the semi-cosmopolitan species Drosophila kikkawai, D. serrata is, within the Australasian Region, the most widespread species of the montium subgroup. We have examined specimens from widely separated localities of the known D. serrata range and found limited morphological variation and no incorrect earlier determinations. We now have a better understanding of the preferred D. serrata habitat and note that certain earlier reports of “ D. serrata ” for which there are no reference specimens, are difficult to reconcile within this new view of preferred environmental conditions; we believe that earlier reports of D. serrata from deep within rainforests are more likely to be misidentifications of D. birchii or of the new species we describe below. The southern limit of the range of D. serrata is at Wollongong (34.3°S, Jenkins & Hoffmann 1999), intensive fruit trapping at Nowra, 50 km farther south failed to yield any montium subgroup species (Jenkins & Hoffmann 2001). The most northern record for D. serrata is at Rabaul, New Britain (4.4°N, Ayala 1965 a). This distribution has a latitudinal magnitude of over 38 °. The longitudinal breadth is also wide at 54 °, with reports from Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean near Java (Carson & Wheeler 1973 and McEvey 2004) through the Kimberly region, Western Australia, and Berry Springs, Northern Territory to Lord Howe Island, 500 km off the east coast of Australia. Distribution (Fig. 20): Northern and eastern Australia (including Christmas, Norfolk and Lord Howe Islands) and Papua New Guinea (Atkinson 1985; Ayala 1965 a; Baimai 1970 a; Birch et al. 1963; Bock 1976; Bock 1977; Dobzhansky & Mather 1961; Jenkins & Hoffmann 1999; Jenkins & Hoffmann 2001; Mather 1955; Mather 1956; McEvey 1993; van Klinken 1996; also see Appendix).Published as part of Schiffer, Michele & Mcevey, Shane F., 2006, Drosophila bunnanda — a new species from northern Australia with notes on other Australian members of the montium subgroup (Diptera: Drosophilidae), pp. 1-23 in Zootaxa 1333 on pages 6-7, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17425

Drosophila montium

Key to males of Australian Drosophila montium subgroup species Keys to the Australian genera of Drosophilidae and many species have been given by Bock (1976, 1982). Australian species of the montium subgroup key to Bock’s (1982) couplet 27. 1 Abdomen blackened apically.............................................................. sp cf. jambulina - Abdomen tan apically, not distinctly blackened.......................................................... 2 2 Secondary clasper of male external genitalia with 3 medial black bristles........................................................................................................................... birchii, dominicana * - Secondary clasper of male external genitalia with 2 medial black bristles................. 3 3 Ventral medial bristle on secondary clasper appreciably smaller than dorsal bristle; caudal margin of novasternum strongly convex, with a pair of long, close submedian spines; basal teeth of the proximal sex comb not tightly appressed................ kikkawai - Medial bristles on secondary clasper subequal; caudal margin of novasternum not strongly convex, with a pair of short, close submedian spines; basal teeth of the proximal sex comb tightly appressed (Figs. 3, 10).............................................................. 4 4 Primary clasper (surstylus) with short stout bristles (Fig. 1). Cercus entirely light tan.............................................................................................................................. serrata - Primary clasper with robust coarse bristles (Fig. 7). Cercus light tan ventrally and dark tan along dorsomedial margin................................................................... bunnanda **Published as part of Schiffer, Michele & Mcevey, Shane F., 2006, Drosophila bunnanda — a new species from northern Australia with notes on other Australian members of the montium subgroup (Diptera: Drosophilidae), pp. 1-23 in Zootaxa 1333 on pages 14-15, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17425

Drosophila ananassae Doleschall 1859

<i>Drosophila ananassae</i> Doleschall, 1859:128 <p> <i>Drosophila ananassae</i> is the most abundant and most frequently collected species in the South Pacific, including on all the Cook Islands surveyed in this study (Table 3) and others (e.g., Pukapuka, no abundance data). It can be collected at fruit baits in the thousands. It is also easily cultured in laboratories and samples from different populations have, since the 1960s, been the subject of numerous genetic, cytological and behavioural studies; see historical overview in McEvey & Schiffer (2015). Many of the male specimens of the <i>ananassae</i> species complex collected during the present survey from the Cook Islands, were dissected, and found to have terminalia corresponding either to <i>Drosophila ananassae</i> (sensu McEvey & Schiffer, 2015) or to a different, hitherto unknown species, described below.</p>Published as part of <i>Mcevey, Shane F. & Polak, Michal, 2021, Drosophilidae (Diptera) of the Cook Islands, pp. 153-170 in Records of the Australian Museum (Rec. Aust. Mus.) (Rec. Aust. Mus.) 73 (5)</i> on page 161, DOI: 10.3853/j.2201-4349.73.2021.1770, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/7177968">http://zenodo.org/record/7177968</a&gt

Drosophila bipectinata Duda 1923

<i>Drosophila bipectinata</i> Duda, 1923:52 <p>Figs 31–33</p> <p>An easily recognizable small pale species with very distinctive sex combs (Figs 31–33). We have collected this species throughout the Tropical South Pacific (TSP) on the following islands: New Caledonia, Lifou, Efate (Vanuatu), Viti Levu, Upolu, Tutuila (American Samoa), Rarotonga, Aitutaki, Mangaia (Table 3), Bora Bora, Moorea, Nuku Hiva, Ua Pou and Hiva Oa (the latter three islands are in the Marquesas group) (Fig. 1).</p>Published as part of <i>Mcevey, Shane F. & Polak, Michal, 2021, Drosophilidae (Diptera) of the Cook Islands, pp. 153-170 in Records of the Australian Museum (Rec. Aust. Mus.) (Rec. Aust. Mus.) 73 (5)</i> on page 166, DOI: 10.3853/j.2201-4349.73.2021.1770, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/7177968">http://zenodo.org/record/7177968</a&gt

Drosophila montium

montium subgroup Hsu montium subgroup—Hsu, 1949, Univ. Tex. Publ. 4920, p. 121 Male external genitalia with primary and secondary claspers, secondary clasper usually with very large bristles (but note that Drosophila paraviaristata Takada, Momma and Shima 1973, is an exception in this respect); sex comb in almost all species (exceptions discussed by Bock 1980 and Lemeunier et al. 1986) with longitudinal rows of teeth along metatarsus and second tarsal segment; abdominal colour dimorphism rarely present (D. jambulina is one of several exceptions), most species possessing shiny yellowish or brown tergites with clearly defined apical black bands in both sexes; abdominal tergites with sparse large apical bristles (Bock 1980).Published as part of Schiffer, Michele & Mcevey, Shane F., 2006, Drosophila bunnanda — a new species from northern Australia with notes on other Australian members of the montium subgroup (Diptera: Drosophilidae), pp. 1-23 in Zootaxa 1333 on page 3, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17425

Drosophila Sophophora

Drosophila (Sophophora) sp. cf. jambulina Parshad & Paika Drosophila sp. cf. jambulina Parshad & Paika (Bock 1977, p. 269) Drosophila jambulina Parshad & Paika, 1964, p. 240 (holotype location unknown; type locality India). Drosophila jambulina was described from several localities in India; its known distribution is apparently restricted to India (Watanabe et al. 1982). Reports of it occurring in Cambodia (Bock & Wheeler 1972), Thailand (Baimai pers. comm. to Bock 1977) and Taiwan (Wheeler 1981) are thrown into doubt after a wide ranging comparative study of many Indian strains of D. jambulina, the Indian sibling species D. punjabiensis Parshad & Paika 1964, and a number of Texas University stocks that were used in earlier studies (loc. cit.). The Australian species is very similar to D. jambulina in external morphology, the two are virtually inseparable (Bock 1977). For the following zoogeographical and molecular reasons we agree with Bock and consider the Australian species to be an additional species in the complex. Apart from the unusually disjunct distribution (India and northern Australia with a notable absence at intermediate locations), molecular analysis using a segment of the mitochondrial ND 5 gene (Schiffer unpublished data) indicates significant genetic differentiation between D. jambulina from Rohtak, India (ex culture maintained by Jean David, BGE CNRS France) and D. sp. cf. jambulina specimens from Cooktown, Cairns, Lake Barrine, Mt Elliot and Mackay, Queensland (ex culture CM 1 / 50 [Lake Barrine] maintained by Schiffer, La Trobe University, voucher specimens in AM K 119237–119305). Distribution (Fig. 17). From Cooktown (15.5°S), northern Queensland, to Brunswick Heads (28.5°S), northern New South Wales (Bock 1977; van Klinken 1996; also see Appendix).Published as part of Schiffer, Michele & Mcevey, Shane F., 2006, Drosophila bunnanda — a new species from northern Australia with notes on other Australian members of the montium subgroup (Diptera: Drosophilidae), pp. 1-23 in Zootaxa 1333 on page 4, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17425

Drosophila kikkawai

<i>Drosophila kikkawai</i> complex Tsacas & David <p> <i>Drosophila kikkawai</i> complex—Tsacas & David, 1978 [1977], <i>Annls. Soc. Ent. Fr.</i> 13(4), p. 689</p> <p> <i>Drosophila kikkawai</i> is one of a cluster of very similar species, including <i>anomelani, barbarae, brevis, diplacantha, leontia, lini, mysorensis</i> and <i>pennae</i> (the latter from Papua New Guinea), together they have been termed the “ <i>kikkawai</i> -complex” in a review by Tsacas & David (1978). Baimai (1979) added <i>Drosophila bocki</i>. Tsacas & David (1978) describe males of the complex as having “sex comb on the first two segments of the foreleg tarsi very long, occupying the entire length of the segment; secondary clasper fused or attached to anal plate via membranous connection: secondary clasper with 2 very large subequal, or one large and one smaller above, black median teeth; no strong teeth on the anal plate; phallus slender, bare, or rarely hirsute, apically recurved dorsally; caudal margin of novasternum with strong, generally slender, median convexity and a pair of close submedian spines which are usually long; posterior parameres long, slender often reaching the tip of phallus”.</p>Published as part of <i>Schiffer, Michele & Mcevey, Shane F., 2006, Drosophila bunnanda — a new species from northern Australia with notes on other Australian members of the montium subgroup (Diptera: Drosophilidae), pp. 1-23 in Zootaxa 1333</i> on page 4, DOI: <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/174253">10.5281/zenodo.174253</a&gt

Drosophila (Sophophora) dominicana Ayala

Drosophila (Sophophora) dominicana Ayala Drosophila dominicana Ayala 1965, Pac. Insects 7, p. 620. Type locality: Madang, Papua New Guinea. We dissected a D. dominicana paratype (AMNH, Reg. 21752) to determine its relationship to the species we describe as new in this paper. We found the novasternum to have a distinctive bicornute caudal margin. This notched form resembles the shape in species of the auraria complex, unlike the smooth convexity of the novasternum of the remaining two D. serrata complex species. Ayala’s drawing (1965 a, fig. 2) does not show this but it is clear in an unpublished drawing of D. dominicana by I.R. Bock (dated 9 Feb 1987) that we have been able to view. We can confirm, however, that the secondary claspers are indeed noticeably circular in appearance as described and illustrated by Ayala (1965 a, b); this is also reminiscent of auraria complex species. Drosophila dominicana has distinct spines along the ventral cercal margin and has three spines of unequal size (two large, one small) arising from the secondary clasper. The latter may be a variable condition because it is evident in Ayala’s (1965 b) drawing and in our dissected specimen, but not in Bock’s unpublished sketch. Three combinations of interspecific crosses involving D. dominicana and either D. serrata or D. birchii resulted in hybrids (Ayala 1965 a). Drosophila serrata Wau female × D. dominicana Madang male and D. dominicana Madang female × D. birchii Port Moresby male both produced offspring with some fertility, D. serrata Mataranka female × D. dominicana Madang male produced sterile offspring. It is possible, that the new montium species, when intercrossed in certain combinations with these latter species, will produce partially fertile hybrids. This would not be unusual among species of the same complex within the melanogaster species group (Bock 1984 a). The Y chromosome of the D. dominicana metaphase karyotype has been compared to, and found to share similarities with, the Y chromosomes of D. jambulina and D. nikananu (Baimai 1980). However, comparisons of the entire metaphase karyotypes revealed that D. dominicana, D. serrata, and D. birchii were all “quite distinct” (Baimai 1980). Drosophila dominicana is known only from a culture derived from a sample collected at Madang, Papua New Guinea (Ayala 1965 b); we can find no evidence that montium subgroup flies have been sampled in that region since that time. However, many pinned drosophilid specimens from Papua New Guinea remain unsorted (specimens at the B.P. Bishop and Australian Museums). Reports of D. dominicana from several locations in Sabah (Mather 1968) cannot be confirmed by us because of the lack of voucher material. Distribution (Fig. 14). Madang, Papua New Guinea and possibly Sabah (Ayala 1965 a; Ayala 1965; Baimai 1980; Mather 1968; also see Appendix).Published as part of Schiffer, Michele & Mcevey, Shane F., 2006, Drosophila bunnanda — a new species from northern Australia with notes on other Australian members of the montium subgroup (Diptera: Drosophilidae), pp. 1-23 in Zootaxa 1333 on page 8, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17425

Drosophila serrata

<i>Drosophila serrata</i> complex <p> <i>Drosophila serrata</i> complex—first reference Bock & Wheeler, <i>Univ. Texas Publ.</i> 7213, p. 49 Bock & Wheeler (1972) note that “the most extensively studied complex in the <i>montium</i> subgroup from the point of view of speciation and incipient speciation is that consisting of the three species <i>D. serrata</i>, <i>D. birchii</i> and <i>D. dominicana</i> ”. We can find no earlier mention of the “ <i>serrata</i> complex” in the literature, although Ayala refers to the “ <i>serrata</i> group” in the title of his 1965 papers (1965a, b), nor is there a formal description of the morphological characteristics of such a complex. It should be noted that the term “species complex” is not a formal taxonomic category.</p> <p> After <i>D. serrata</i> was described by Malloch (1927) from Eidsvold, Queensland (not “Esdivold” as is written on the label of the type specimen, and not “Eidsvolt” sensu Bock & Wheeler 1972), Dobzhansky & Mather (1961) detected a very similar form from Papua New Guinea and northern Australia and designated it as a <i>D. serrata</i> subspecies: <i>D. serrata birchii</i>. Ayala (1965a), tested sexual isolation between these two forms and a third (very closely resembling <i>D. birchii</i>), known only from Madang on the north coast of Papua New Guinea. His findings resulted in the reclassification of <i>D. serrata birchii</i> as <i>D. birchii</i>, and nomination of the Madang fly as <i>D. dominicana</i> (Ayala 1965b). Following on from the work of Ayala (1965a), Baimai (1970a) studied incipient speciation within <i>D. birchii</i>, and confirmed Ayala’s earlier conclusion that the populations of this species from Rabaul (New Britain), from mainland Papua New Guinea, and from northern Australia comprise a series of populations partially reproductively isolated from one another. Baimai (1970b) also found that several of the at least 40 polytene chromosome inversions in <i>D. birchii</i> are unique to specific geographic areas. Investigations of ND5 microsatellite variation in Australian populations of <i>D. birchii</i> have revealed no significant geographic structure and low nucleotide diversity (Kelemen & Moritz 1999).</p>Published as part of <i>Schiffer, Michele & Mcevey, Shane F., 2006, Drosophila bunnanda — a new species from northern Australia with notes on other Australian members of the montium subgroup (Diptera: Drosophilidae), pp. 1-23 in Zootaxa 1333</i> on pages 5-6, DOI: <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/174253">10.5281/zenodo.174253</a&gt