Drosophila bipectinata Duda, 1923:52

Mcevey, Shane F. & Polak, Michal, 2021, Drosophilidae (Diptera) of the Cook Islands, Records of the Australian Museum (Rec. Aust. Mus.) 73 (5), pp. 153-170 : 166

Drosophila bipectinata Duda, 1923:52

Figs 31–33

An easily recognizable small pale species with very distinctive sex combs ( Figs 31–33 ). We have collected this species throughout the Tropical South Pacific (TSP) on the following islands: New Caledonia, Lifou, Efate ( Vanuatu), Viti Levu, Upolu, Tutuila ( American Samoa), Rarotonga, Aitutaki, Mangaia ( Table 3), Bora Bora, Moorea, Nuku Hiva, Ua Pou and Hiva Oa (the latter three islands are in the Marquesas group) ( Fig. 1 ).

Figures

Figure 1. Main islands or archipelagos of the Tropical South Pacific (TSP, above).The Cook Islands, as a country, includes Pukapuka coral atoll in the northern group; the present survey is restricted to the three large islands—Rarotonga, Aitutaki and Mangaia—of the Cook Islands southern group, boxed in blue above and enlarged below. Atolls and smaller islands in the Cook Islands southern group are named in grey below (see also Fig. 2 and Tables 1–3).

Figures 31–33. Drosophila bipectinata Duda males, with detail of sex combs of male foreleg. Specimens in AM registered K.385867, K.385864 and K.385869.001 with label data: “COOK IS, Aitutaki | –18.8549° –159.7884° | 10.ii.2017 fruit | Michal Polak”.