The genus ''Zaprionus'' belongs to the family fruit fly Drosophilidae and is positioned within 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 ...

genus ''

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 ...

''. 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 (subgenus ''

Zaprionus 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 su ...

'') or odd (subgenus '' Anaprionus'') number of white stripes. The species of the genus can be found in Africa and Southern Asia. One species, ''

Zaprionus indianus ''Zaprionus indianus'', the African fig fly, is a species of vinegar fly in the family Drosophilidae The Drosophilidae are a diverse, cosmopolitan family of flies, which includes species called fruit flies, although they are more accurately ...

'', has invaded 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 ...

Description

All species in the genus ''Zaprionus'' are easily identified by the longitudinal white stripes bordered by black stripes running across the top of the head and thorax. Species of the subgenus ''Zaprionus'' have 4 or 6 white stripes while the species of the subgenus ''Anaprionus'' have 5 or 7 white stripes. The general body color varies across species from yellowish to dark brown. Several species of the subgenus ''Zaprionus'' have one or more stout and sometimes composite spines on the forelegs.Yassin A and David JR. (2010
Revision of the Afrotropical species of Zaprionus (Diptera, Drosophilidae), with descriptions of two new species and notes on internal reproductive structures and immature stages.
ZooKeys 51:33–72.

Coloration

The characteristic black and white 'zebra' stripes of this genus have two different origins. In the simplest form, the white stripes are caused by an absence of the

pigment A pigment is a colored material that is completely or nearly insoluble in water. In contrast, dyes are typically soluble, at least at some stage in their use. Generally dyes are often organic compounds whereas pigments are often inorganic compo ...

in the

cuticle A cuticle (), or cuticula, is any of a variety of tough but flexible, non-mineral outer coverings of an organism, or parts of an organism, that provide protection. Various types of "cuticle" are non- homologous, differing in their origin, structu ...

. This mechanism is found in species of the subgenus ''Anaprionus''. The absence of pigmentation also occurs in the species of the subgenus ''Zaprionus'', probably complemented by a separate mechanism. In these species, the white stripes contain many long and bent trichomes (fine outgrowths) that have a groove and contain two cavities, polarizing the

light Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 tera ...

. The black stripes are caused by pigmentation.

Distribution

Members of this genus can be found in the tropics of most continents. The species of the subgenus ''Zaprionus'' are found primarily in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, while the species of the subgenus ''Anaprionus'' are found in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

. Two species, '' Zaprionus ghesquierei'' and ''

'' have expanded their range in recent times. ''Zaprionus ghesquierei'' has

invaded An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...

Hawaiʻi, while ''Zaprionus indianus'' has expanded its range through the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

towards

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and more recently crossed the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

and colonized both

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

.Kim van der Linde, Gary J. Steck, Ken Hibbard, Jeff S. Birdsley, Linette M Alonso and David Houle (2006
First records of Zaprionus indianus (Diptera, Drosophilidae), a pest species on commercial fruits, from Panama and the United States of America.
Florida Entomologist 89:402–404.

Ecology

''Zaprionus'' species are found in a wide array of habitats from

semi-desert A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...

s to the tropical rain forest. Most species breed on

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s or decaying tree trunks.

Taxonomy

Zaprionus indianus - composite spines foreleg

The genus ''Zaprionus'' was described in 1902 by Daniel William Coquillett.Coquillett DW. (1902
New Diptera from Southern Africa
Proceedings of the United States National Museum 24:27–32. He considered the genus closely related to the genus ''Drosophila''. Molecular studies have confirmed this relationship, and the genus ''Zaprionus'' is positioned within the paraphyletic genus ''Drosophila''. Within the genus, species with an odd number of stripes are assigned to the subgenus ''Anaprionus'', while the species with an even number of stripes are assigned to the subgenus ''Zaprionus''.Chassagnard MT. (1988
Esquisse phylogénétique du genre ''Zaprionus'' Coq. (Diptera: Drosophilidae) et description de trois nouvelles espèces afrotropicales
Nat. Can. 115:305–322. Species within the subgenus ''Zaprionus'' were traditionally subdivided in two species groups, ''

armatus Flavius Armatus (died 477), also known as Harmatius, was an Eastern Roman military commander, ''magister militum'' under Emperors Leo I, Basiliscus and Zeno, and consul. He was instrumental in the rebellion of Basiliscus against Zeno, and in his s ...

'' and '' inermis'', based on the presence or absence of special spines on the forelegs.Chassagnard MT and Tsacas L. (1993
Le sous-genre ''Zaprionus'' S.Str.: définition de groupes d'espèces et révision du sous-groupe ''vittiger'' (Diptera: Drosophilidae)
Ann. Soc. Entomol. Fr. 29:173–194. The ''armatus'' species group was further subdivided into three species subgroups based on the type of spines. The species of the ''

'' species subgroup have several normal spines. The single spine on forelegs of the species of the ''

tuberculatus ''Tuberculatus'' is a genus of insects belonging to the family Aphididae. The genus was described in 1894 by Aleksandr Mordvilko. The genus has cosmopolitan distribution In biogeography, cosmopolitan distribution is the term for the range ...

'' species subgroup consists of a large spine positioned on a tubercle with a smaller spine near the base of the spine. Finally, the species of the '' vittiger'' species subgroup had a row of composite spines generally positioned on small tubercles. Recent molecular studies have shown that this subdivision of the ''Zaprionus'' subgenus is incorrect. The ornamentation has evolved multiple times and is not a reliable characteristic for classification. The ''tuberculatus'' species group is now part of the group lacking ornamentation (''inermis''), and the closet relatives of species with a large composite spines are closely related to species without such a spine. The ''vittiger'' species subgroup is now a species group and a new species group, ''neglectus'', has been erected for one species placed at the root of the ''Zaprionus'' subgenus.

Species

The genus ''Zaprionus'' consists of the following species: Subgenus '' Anaprionus'': odd number of whites stripes ::*'' Z. aungsani'' Wynn and Toda, 1988 ::*'' Z. bogoriensis'' Mainx, 1958) ::*'' Z. cercociliaris'' Gupta and Gupta, 1991 ::*'' Z. flavofasciatus'' (Takada, Beppu and Toda, 1979) ::*'' Z. lineosus'' (Walker, 1860) ::*'' Z. multistriatus'' (Duda, 1923) ::*'' Z. obscuricornis'' (de Meijere, 1916) ::*'' Z. orissaensis'' (Gupta, 1972) ::*'' Z. pyinoolwinensis'' Wynn and Toda, 1988 ::*'' Z. silvistriatus'' (Bock and Baimai, 1967) ::*'' Z. spinilineosus'' Okada and Carson, 1983 ::*'' Z. grandis'' (Kikkawa and Peng, 1938) Subgenus ''

'': even number of white stripes *Species group ''

'': all species have a simple row of spines. **Species subgroup ''

'': row of undifferentiated spines ***Species complex ''

'': strong undifferentially oriented spines ****'' Z. armatus'' Collart, 1937 ****'' Z. enoplomerus'' Chassagnard, 1988 ****'' Z. seguyi'' Tsacas and Chassagnard, 1990 ****'' Z. spinipes'' Tsacas and Chassagnard, 1990 ****'' Z. spinoarmatus'' Tsacas and Chassagnard, 1990 ***Species complex '' hoplophorus'': strong differentially oriented spines ****'' Z. hoplophorus'' Tsacas and Chassagnard, 1990 ****'' Z. tuberarmatus'' Tsacas and Chassagnard, 1990 ***Species complex '' vrydaghi'': fine undifferentially oriented spines, wings with black ****'' Z. fumipennis'' Seguy, 1938 ****'' Z. vrydaghi'' Collart, 1937 **Species subgroup '' montanus'': two opposite oriented spines **:*'' Z. montanus'' Collart, 1937 **:*'' Z. campestris'' Chassagnard, 1988 **Species subgroup '' spinosus'': row of differentiated spines **:*'' Z. serratus'' Chassagnard, 1988 **:*'' Z. spineus'' Tsacas and Chassagnard, 1990 **:*'' Z. spinosus'' Collart, 1937 *Species group '' inermis'': zero or one modified spines on foreleg *::*'' Z. arduus'' Collart, 1937 *::*'' Z. badyi'' Burla, 1954 *::*'' Z. ghesquierei'' Collart, 1937 *::*'' Z. momorticus'' Graber, 1957 *::*'' Z. niabu'' Burla, 1954 **Species subgroup '' inermis'' **:*'' Z. cercus'' Chassagnard and McEvey, 1992 **:*'' Z. inermis'' Collart, 1937 **Species subgroup ''

'' **:*'' Z. kolodkinae'' Chassagnard and Tsacas, 1987 **:*'' Z. mascariensis'' Tsacas and David, 1975 ***Species complex '' sepsoides'' ****'' Z. sepsoides'' Duda, 1939 ****'' Z. tsacasi'' Yassin, 2008 ***Species complex ''

'' ****'' Z. burlai'' Yassin, 2008 ****'' Z. tuberculatus'' Malloch, 1932 ****'' Z. verruca'' Chassagnard and McEvey, 1992 *Species group '' neglectus'' *::*'' Z. neglectus'' Collart, 1937 *Species group '' vittiger'': most species have complex spines on the foreleg or two extra stripes over the thorax *:*Species complex '' davidi'' *::*'' Z. davidi'' Chassagnard and Tsacas, 1993 *::*'' Z. taronus'' Chassagnard and Tsacas, 1993 *:*Species complex '' indianus'' *:**'' Z. africanus'' Yassin and David, 2010 *:**'' Z. gabonicus'' Yassin and David, 2010 *:**'' Z. indianus'' Gupta, 1970 *:*Species complex '' ornatus'' *:**'' Z. litos'' Chassagnard and McEvey, 1992 *:**'' Z. ornatus'' Seguy, 1933 *:*Species complex '' proximus'' *:**'' Z. capensis'' Chassagnard and Tsacas, 1993 *:**'' Z. proximus'' Collart, 1937 *:*Species complex '' sexvittatus'': two extra stripes over first half of the thorax *:**'' Z. multivittiger'' Chassagnard, 1996 *:**'' Z. sexstriatus'' Chassagnard, 1996 *:**'' Z. sexvittatus'' Collart, 1937 *:*Species complex '' vittiger'' *:**'' Z. camerounensis'' Chassagnard and Tsacas, 1993 *:**'' Z. koroleu'' Burla, 1954 *:**'' Z. lachaisei'' Yassin, 2010 *:**'' Z. santomensis'' Yassin, 2008 *:**'' Z. vittiger'' Coquillett, 1901

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3574830 Drosophilidae genera Taxa named by Daniel William Coquillett