Drosophila (Sophophora) serrata Malloch

Schiffer, Michele & Mcevey, Shane F., 2006, Drosophila bunnanda — a new species from northern Australia with notes on other Australian members of the montium subgroup (Diptera: Drosophilidae), Zootaxa 1333, pp. 1-23 : 6-7

Drosophila (Sophophora) serrata Malloch

Drosophila serrata Malloch, 1927 . Proc. Linnean Soc. N.S.W. 52, p. 6. Type locality: Eidsvold, Queensland, Australia.

Apart from the semi-cosmopolitan species Drosophila kikkawai , D. serrata is, within the Australasian Region, the most widespread species of the montium subgroup. We have examined specimens from widely separated localities of the known D. serrata range and found limited morphological variation and no incorrect earlier determinations. We now have a better understanding of the preferred D. serrata habitat and note that certain earlier reports of “ D. serrata ” for which there are no reference specimens, are difficult to reconcile within this new view of preferred environmental conditions; we believe that earlier reports of D. serrata from deep within rainforests are more likely to be misidentifications of D. birchii or of the new species we describe below. The southern limit of the range of D. serrata is at Wollongong (34.3°S, Jenkins & Hoffmann 1999), intensive fruit trapping at Nowra, 50 km farther south failed to yield any montium subgroup species ( Jenkins & Hoffmann 2001). The most northern record for D. serrata is at Rabaul, New Britain (4.4°N, Ayala 1965a). This distribution has a latitudinal magnitude of over 38°. The longitudinal breadth is also wide at 54°, with reports from Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean near Java ( Carson & Wheeler 1973 and McEvey 2004) through the Kimberly region, Western Australia, and Berry Springs, Northern Territory to Lord Howe Island, 500 km off the east coast of Australia.

Distribution ( Fig. 20 ): Northern and eastern Australia (including Christmas, Norfolk and Lord Howe Islands) and Papua New Guinea ( Atkinson 1985; Ayala 1965a; Baimai 1970a; Birch et al. 1963; Bock 1976; Bock 1977; Dobzhansky & Mather 1961; Jenkins & Hoffmann 1999; Jenkins & Hoffmann 2001; Mather 1955; Mather 1956; McEvey 1993; van Klinken 1996; also see Appendix).

Figures

FIGURES 14 – 20. Distribution maps of Drosophila montium subgroup species in the Australasian Region. (14) Drosophila dominicana. (15) Drosophila montium subgroup species undissected and unclassified. (16) Drosophila kikkawai. (17) Drosophila sp. cf. jambulina. (18) Drosophila bunnanda (19) Drosophila birchii. (20) Drosophila serrata.