The ''Drosophila melanogaster''
species subgroup contains 9 species of flies, including the best known species ''
Drosophila melanogaster
''Drosophila melanogaster'' is a species of fly (the taxonomic order Diptera) in the family Drosophilidae. The species is often referred to as the fruit fly or lesser fruit fly, or less commonly the "vinegar fly" or "pomace fly". Starting with Ch ...
'' and ''
D. simulans''. The subgroup belongs to the
''Drosophila melanogaster'' species group within the subgenus ''
Sophophora
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'') ...
''.
Males can discriminate between females of different species, in part, by detecting differences in the hydrocarbon pheromones coating their bodies. Females can discriminate between males of different species, in part, by detecting species-specific differences in the male's courtship behavior. When copulation does occur between different species, the hybrid progeny are often non-viable, sterile or fertile with lower fitness.
Phylogeny
The
phylogeny
A phylogenetic tree (also phylogeny or evolutionary tree Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, MA.) is a branching diagram or a tree showing the evolutionary relationships among various biological spec ...
of the ''melanogaster'' complex
* ''
D. (S.) melanogaster''
Meigen, 1830
''simulans'' complex
* ''
D. (S.) simulans''
Sturtevant, 1919
* ''
D. (S.) mauritiana''
Tsacas and David, 1974
* ''
D. (S.) sechellia''
Tsacas and Bächli, 1981
''yakuba'' complex
* ''
D. (S.) yakuba''
Burla, 1954
* ''
D. (S.) santomea''
* ''
D. (S.) teissieri''
Tsacas, 1971
''erecta'' complex
* ''
D. (S.) erecta''
Tsacas and Lachaise, 1974
* ''
D. (S.) orena''
Tsacas and David, 1978
The species of the ''simulans'' complex form a hard
polytomy
An internal node of a phylogenetic tree is described as a polytomy or multifurcation if (i) it is in a rooted tree and is linked to three or more child subtrees or (ii) it is in an unrooted tree and is attached to four or more branches. A tr ...
. Most likely, the island species ''D. (S.) mauritiana'' (
Mauritius
Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...
) and ''D. (S.) sechellia'' (
Seychelles
Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, V ...
) branched off from the mainland species ''D. (S.) simulans'' in such a narrow time frame that it is impossible to distinguish which species branched off first and which second.
References
*J. A. Coyne, S. Elwyn, S. Y. Kim & A. Llopart 2004. Genetic studies of two sister species in the ''Drosophila melanogaster'' subgroup, ''D. yakuba'' and ''D. santomea''. Genetical Research 84: 11-26.
*R. M. Kliman, P. Andolfatto, J. A. Coyne, F. Depaulis, M. Kreitman, A. J. Berry, J. McCarter, J. Wakeley & J. Hey 2000. The population genetics of the origin and divergence of the ''Drosophila simulans'' complex species. Genetics 156: 1913-1931.
{{Taxobar, from=Q5308589
melanogaster species subgroup
Insect species groups