Morphometrical evolution in a Drosophila clade: theDrosophila obscuragroup

Abstract

Five morphometrical traits (wing and thoraxlength, ovariole number, and thoracic and female abdomen pigmentation) were investigated in laboratory stocks of 20 species belonging to the Drosophila obscura group (subgenus Sophophora). These species originated from four biogeographical regions and represent all five of the presently recognized, taxonomic subgroups. Size-related traits (wing and thorax length) were highly variable across species, and interspecific variation explained more than 90% of total variability. In both traditional and phylogenetic analyses, wing size was positively correlated with latitude of origin. These interspecific correlations were however notably weaker than those for intraspecific correlations. Wing/thoraxratio, which may be related to flight capacity, showed little variation. Ovariole number was highly variabl e (range 27–53) both within and between species, and was positively correlated with the wing/thoraxratio, suggesting that species with relatively large ovaries have relatively low wing loading. Although many species are completely dark, 11 had some regions of light coloration. A light thoraxwith a median darkening was observed in sixspecies. A variable pigmentation of abdominal tergites, in females only, was found in nine species, belonging to three subgroups only. With respect to both molecular phylogeny and morphometrical evolution, the D. obscura subgroup is probably now the best investigated clade in Drosophila.