ABSTRACT
Invading species pose a growing threat to biodiversity, ecosystemic systems, regional economies, and public health. In recent decades, South America has received five exotic drosophilids species, some of which have invaded natural ecosystems and caused harm to agriculture. The most recent case is the Asian fly Drosophila nasuta Lamb. In the present study, we record D. nasuta in the Amazon, which is the largest and most biodiverse tropical rainforest in the world. Sampling of drosophilids was carried out between 2012 and 2017 in the Brazilian state of Pará. Drosophila nasuta was first detected on 1st July 2017, with 145 individuals of this species sampled among the 11,496 drosophilids caught. Although at low abundance, D. nasuta was recorded in forest fragments, anthropized fields, and urban environment. The records of the species occurred in the six municipalities of the state of Pará investigated at locations separated by approximately 700 km. In less than 10 years, D. nasuta has occupied approximately 2.5 million km2 in South America. The present findings assist in understanding the susceptibility of tropical forests to biological invasions.
Subject(s)
Drosophila , Ecosystem , Animals , Biodiversity , Brazil , Drosophila/classification , Forests , Introduced SpeciesABSTRACT
We suggest a new phylogenetic hypothesis for the tripunctata radiation based on sequences of mitochondrial genes. Phylogenetic trees were reconstructed by parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods. We performed tests for hypotheses of monophyly for taxonomic groups and other specific hypotheses. Results reject the monophyly for the tripunctata group whereas monophyly is not rejected for the tripunctata radiation and other specific groups within the radiation. Although most of the basal nodes were unresolved we were able to identify four clusters within the tripunctata radiation. These results suggest the collection of additional data before a proper taxonomic revision could be proposed.
