The
paraphyletic subgenus ''Sophophora'' of the
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
''
Drosophila
''Drosophila'' () is a genus of flies, belonging to the family Drosophilidae, whose members are often called "small fruit flies" or (less frequently) pomace flies, vinegar flies, or wine flies, a reference to the characteristic of many speci ...
'' was first described by
Alfred Sturtevant
Alfred Henry Sturtevant (November 21, 1891 – April 5, 1970) was an American geneticist. Sturtevant constructed the first genetic map of a chromosome in 1911. Throughout his career he worked on the organism ''Drosophila melanogaster'' with ...
in 1939.
It contains the best-known drosophilid 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 ...
''. ''Sophophora'' translates as carrier (''
phora
Marco Anthony Archer (born October 11, 1994), better known by his stage name Phora, is an American rapper from Anaheim, California. In 2011, he founded his own record label, Yours Truly.
In February 2017, Phora announced signed a major label de ...
'') of wisdom (''
sophos''). The subgenus is
paraphyletic because the genus ''
Lordiphosa
''Lordiphosa'' is a genus of fly in the family Drosophilidae.
Species
*''Lordiphosa acongruens, L. acongruens'' (Zhang & Liang, 1992)
*''Lordiphosa acuminata, L. acuminata'' (James Edward Collin, Collin, 1952)
*''Lordiphosa alticola, L. alticola ...
''
and the species ''
Hirtodrosophila duncani''
are also placed within this subgenus.
Phylogeny
Currently, 10
species group
In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...
s are recognized, in two main groups, the
New World
The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...
and the
Old World
Old World:
*
''melanogaster'' species group (65 species, including ''
D. 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 ...
'' and ''
D. simulans'')
*
''montium'' species group (88)
*
''ananassae'' species group (24)
*
''obscura'' species group (44)
*
''dentissima'' species group (17)
*
''fima'' species group (23)
*
''dispar'' species group (2)
*
''settifemur'' species group (2)
New World:
*
''saltans'' species group (21)
*
''willistoni'' species group (23)
Unknown:
*
''populi'' species group (2)
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3715458
Sophophora
Insect subgenera