The Drosophila (Sophophora) obscura species group in the Americas (Diptera: Drosophilidae): review, revisions, and three new species Author Grimaldi, David A. text American Museum Novitates 2024 2024-05-16 2024 4015 1 44 https://bioone.org/journals/american-museum-novitates/volume-2024/issue-4015/4015.1/The-Drosophila-Sophophora-obscura-species-group-in-the-Americas-Diptera/10.1206/4015.1.full journal article 10.1206/4015.1 0003-0082 12171426 Drosophila ( Sophophora ) affinis Sturtevant Figures 4A , 7A , 9A ; 11A, B ; 14A Drosophila affinis Sturtevant, 1916: 334 . DIAGNOSIS: A small, very common species in eastern North America, thorax color varying from light brown to black-brown ( Werner and Jaenike, 2017: 83 ); carina very narrow, short; male sex comb with ta 1 usually with 4–5 teeth (ranging from 4–7 [ Sulerud and Miller, 1966 ), ta 2 with 1 slender tooth; ta 1 distinctly shorter (0.88×) than ta 2 ; base of inner ventral epandrial lobe with furrows, no microtrichia. TYPE: Holotype : ♂ + puparium: bred banana [written] / Kushla , Ala [bama] IV.25.15 AH Sturtevant / TYPE Drosophila affinis Sturt. [red label] / Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. Dept. Invertebrates No. 24134. In AMNH . The adult and its puparium are mounted on separate points on the same pin. SPECIMENS EXAMINED: Besides type (above), the following material (all in AMNH ): UNITED STATES: ALABAMA: Kushla , Ala. VI .13.14, A.H. Sturtevant / Paratype (1). GEORGIA : large series, Georgia , Liberty Co. , St. Catherine’s Is. , 11-20/IV/88, Grimaldi (two dissected: ASG 28♀ , ASG 29 ♂ ) . MAINE : Mount Desert Isle , ME 29 June-3 July 1982 , J. Jaenike (7) . MASSACHUSETTS : 5 mi W Ipswich , Mass / July 1948 M.R. Wheeler (8) . NEW JERSEY : Morris Co. , Pompton Plains , vi.10.2012, D. Grimaldi , on Lysurus borealis fungus (rotten fish smell) (17); N Brnswck [ New Brunswick ] NJ / Metatype VI/20 [ Sturtevant coll.] (9) . NEW YORK : New York [ City ], X.12.14, A.H. Sturtevant / Metatype (1); Chenango Valley St. Park, IV /15-V/6, 1982, D.A. Grimaldi (6); Trumansburg, VI /16- 22/83, D. Grimaldi , coll. (22) . NORTH CAROLINA : Alum Cave Bluffs , Great Smoky Mountains , VII/18-22/82; Clingman’s Dome , Great Smoky Mountains , VII/18-22/82, J. Jaenike (11); Raleigh , VIII/3/82, J. Jaenike (3) . TEXAS : Houston , Harris Co. , White Oak Bayou, VI /20/83, J. Jaenike (7) . VERMONT : Mad Brook Farm, E . Charleston, Orlean Co. , VT VII/15-25/82, D. Grimaldi (4) . DISTRIBUTION: The eastern half of North America , including prairie states; from Texas, Florida , and the Gulf coast in the south, to Maine , southern Ontario and Québec in the north, west to Minnesota ( Miller, 1958 ; M. Miller et al., 2017) . COMMENTS: The main breeding sites of this very abundant species have not been determined. These flies are attracted to a variety of substrates and will breed in low levels in such varied host plants as decaying spadices of skunk cabbage ( Symplocarpus foetidus : Araceae ) ( Grimaldi and Jaenike, 1983 ), and fruits of mayapple and huckleberry (respectively, Podophyllum peltatus : Berberidaceae ; and Gaylussacia spp. , Vaccinium spp. : Ericaceae ) ( Carson and Stalker, 1951 ). I have also found them attracted to Lysurus borealis fungus ( Phallaceae ), which has the smell of rotten fish (full record given above), but it wasn’t determined whether they were breeding in the fungus. The species has not been found to breed in mushrooms, despite all the efforts in breeding flies from various macrofungi (e.g., Werner and Jaenike, 2017 ). An interesting aspect of the natural history of D. affinis is their attraction in significant numbers to the flowers of pawpaw ( Asimina triloba : Annonaceae ) ( Martin, 2021 ; Goodrich et al., 2023 ). Various drosophilids are the most abundant visitors to the flowers, and D. affinis is the most abundant fruit fly visitor. The tree has a distribution throughout eastern North America similar to that of D. affinis . The flowering of pawpaw occurs in the early spring, the flowers smelling yeasty and fermenting; it is unknown whether D. affinis is a significant pollinator of this plant, whether they breed in its flowers and fruits, or possibly even both.