Sophophora Explained

The paraphyletic subgenus Sophophora of the genus Drosophila was first described by Alfred Sturtevant in 1939. It contains the best-known drosophilid species, Drosophila melanogaster. Sophophora translates as carrier (phora) of wisdom (sophos). The subgenus is paraphyletic because the genus Lordiphosa^[1] and the species Hirtodrosophila duncani are also placed within this subgenus.

Phylogeny

Currently, 10 species groups are recognized, in two main groups, the New World and the Old World^{[2] [3]}

Old World:

• melanogaster species group (65 species, including D. melanogaster 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)

Notes and References

1. Y.-G. & Toda, M. J..
2. Bächli, G. (1999-2010). TaxoDros: The Database on Taxonomy of Drosophilidae. Available at Web site: Welcome to T a x o D r o S . 2006-02-09 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20060209011323/http://taxodros.unizh.ch/ . 2006-02-09 .
3. Da Lage, J.-L., Kergoat, G. J., Maczkowiak, F., Silvain, J.-F., Cariou, M.-L. & Lachaise, D..