Scaptomyza Explained

Scaptomyza is a genus of vinegar flies, insects in the family Drosophilidae., there are 273 described species of Scaptomyza.^{[1] [2]} Of those, 148 are endemic to the Hawaiian archipelago. This genus is part of the species-rich lineage of Hawaiian Drosophilidae, and is the sister lineage to the endemic Hawaiian Drosophila.^[3] The genus Scaptomyza is one of several nested within the paraphyletic genus Drosophila.

Two hypotheses have been proposed to explain the geographical distribution of Scaptomyza.^[4] The "single Hawaiian origin" hypothesis suggests that the common ancestor of Scaptomyza and Hawaiian Drosophila colonized Hawaii once, followed by several migrations to the mainland within Scaptomyza.^{[5] [6]} Alternatively, the "multiple Hawaiian origins" hypothesis suggests that the current distribution is the result of multiple colonization events (once for Hawaiian Drosophila and multiple times in Scaptomyza).

One member of the genus in particular, S. flava, is studied as a laboratory model organism for herbivory and the evolution of plant-insect interactions.^[7]

One specimen, assigned to the species S. dominicana, has been described from Dominican amber that is estimated to have been deposited at least 23 million years ago.^[8]

See also

• List of Scaptomyza species

Further reading

• Book: Manual of Nearctic Diptera, Volume II. 1987. McAlpine . J. F.. Petersen . B. V.. Shewell . G. E.. Teskey . H. J.. Vockeroth . J. R.. Wood . D. M.. Agriculture Canada, Research Branch. 978-0-660-10731-8.

Notes and References

1. Hardy . James . 1849 . Note on Remedies for the Turnip-Fly amongst the Ancients, and on the Turnip-Fly of New Holland, with Notice of a New Genus and Species of Diptera . History of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club . 359–362 . Biodiversity Heritage Library.
2. Rampasso . Augusto Santos . O’grady . Patrick Michael . 2022-03-08 . Distribution and Taxonomy of Endemic and Introduced Drosophilidae in Hawaii . Zootaxa . en . 5106 . 1 . 1–80 . 10.11646/zootaxa.5106.1.1 . 35391282 . 247301097 . 1175-5334.
3. O’Grady . Patrick M. . Lapoint . Richard T. . Bonacum . James . Lasola . Jackline . Owen . Elaine . Wu . Yifei . DeSalle . Rob . 2011-02-01 . Phylogenetic and ecological relationships of the Hawaiian Drosophila inferred by mitochondrial DNA analysis . Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution . en . 58 . 2 . 244–256 . 10.1016/j.ympev.2010.11.022 . 21144904 . 1055-7903.
4. Katoh . Toru . Izumitani . Hiroyuki F. . Yamashita . Shinji . Watada . Masayoshi . February 10, 2017 . Multiple origins of Hawaiian drosophilids: Phylogeography of Scaptomyza Hardy (Diptera: Drosophilidae): Phylogeography of Scaptomyza . Entomological Science . en . 20 . 1 . 33–44 . 10.1111/ens.12222. 88697632 .
5. Lapoint . Richard T. . O’Grady . Patrick M. . Whiteman . Noah K. . 2013-10-01 . Diversification and dispersal of the Hawaiian Drosophilidae: The evolution of Scaptomyza . Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution . en . 69 . 1 . 95–108 . 10.1016/j.ympev.2013.04.032 . 23669011 . 3769216 . 1055-7903.
6. O'Grady . Patrick . DeSalle . Rob . 2008-02-22 . Out of Hawaii: the origin and biogeography of the genus Scaptomyza (Diptera: Drosophilidae) . Biology Letters . 4 . 2 . 195–199 . EN . 10.1098/rsbl.2007.0575 . 2429922 . 18296276.
7. Whiteman . Noah K. . Groen . Simon C. . Chevasco . Daniela . Bear . Ashley . Beckwith . Noor . Gregory . T. Ryan . Denoux . Carine . Mammarella . Nicole . Ausubel . Frederick M. . Pierce . Naomi E. . March 2011 . Mining the plant-herbivore interface with a leafmining Drosophila of Arabidopsis . Molecular Ecology . 20 . 5 . 995–1014 . 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2010.04901.x . 0962-1083 . 3062943 . 21073583.
8. Grimald . David A. . June 10, 1987 . Amber Fossil Drosophilidae (Diptera), with Particular Reference to the Hispaniolan Taxa . American Museum Novitates . 2880 . 1–23.