Abstract
1) New collections of D. buzzatii are reported from Australia, East Africa and Israel. In each instance, the species has been captured only near plants of the cactus genus Opuntia. In Australia, the species has been shown to breed on the fruits of the giant Opuntia, O. Ficus-indica. 2) In each new population, including one very old laboratory strain from Trapani, Italy, a single chromosomal polymorphism is present in chromosome 2; this is due to the coexistence of the standard chromosome 2 and the inversion 2j. 3) These data support the previous suggestion that D. buzzatii originated in Argentina where populations show polymorphism for two inversions in addition to 2j. 4) In its spread over five continents, D. buzzatii appears to have remained specifically associated with Opuntia; thus it appears to have retained niche-specificity. The spread seems to have involved a subspecies polymorphic for the 2j inversion. The factors which may operate in the maintenance of this ubiquitous polymorphism are discussed.
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