The male terminalia of seven American species of Drosophila (Diptera, Drosophilidae)

Abstract

The male terminalia of seven species ofDrosophilaendemic to the New World are described or redescribed and illustrated: one in thehydeisubgroup (D.guayllabambae) and four in themullerisubgroup (D.arizonae,D.navojoa,D.nigrodumosa, andD.sonorae) of therepletagroup; one in thestictagroup (D.sticta) and one so far unassigned to group (D.comosa). TheD.guayllabambaeterminalia redescription is based on a wild-caught fly. The redescriptions of the terminalia of the four species in themullerisubgroup are based on strain specimens, while those ofD.stictaandD.comosaterminalia are based on their holotypes.D.guayllabambaeseems to be a strictly mountainous species of the Ecuadorian and Peruvian Andes.D.nigrodumosais apparently endemic to Venezuela, occurring in the Andes as well as at lower altitudes. The remaining five occurs only at lower altitudes of the American continent. The detailed line drawings depicted in this paper aim to help interested taxonomists to tell those species apart. Their precise identification is of great importance to the knowledge of the American biodiversity increasingly threatened by human activities.