The

paraphyletic In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...

subgenus In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between t ...

''Sophophora'' of the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

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 species ...

'' 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 Ch ...

''. ''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 Sophos Group plc is a British based security software and hardware company. Sophos develops products for communication endpoint, encryption, network security, email security, mobile security and unified threat management. Sophos is primarily ...

''). The subgenus is

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. 3 ...

and the

Old World The "Old World" is a term for Afro-Eurasia that originated in Europe , after Europeans became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia, which were previously thought of by the ...

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 Ch ...

'' 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