Summary

Drosophila serrata is a member of the melanogaster species group (montium subgroup) within the Sophophora subgenus.

Drosophila serrata is, within the Australasian region, the most widespread species of the montium subgroup and occurs in Australia and Papua New Guinea. In Australia it has been recorded as far south as Wollongong (New South Wales) and there is evidence that it is expanding its range. Drosophila serrata is a generalist species that has been collected in most forest and woodland types and even urban environments where some level of native vegetation is present. Drosophila serrata is often collected from the fringes of tropical rainforest, but it rarely penetrates deep into undisturbed tropical rainforest.

Drosophila serrata has emerged as a model for addressing evolutionary questions such as the evolution of species borders, adaptation to climatic variables and sexual selection.

The genome of this species is in the process of being sequenced as part of the "Adaptation to climate change research project", which is funded by a Science & Industry Endowment Fund (SIEF) Research grant.

Related entries

Publication Citations

• Griffiths, J. A., Schiffer, M., and Hoffmann, A. A., 'Clinal variation and laboratory adaptation in the rainforest species Drosophila birchii for stress resistance, wing size, wing shape and development time', Journal of Evolutionary Biology, vol. 18, no. 1, Cambridge University Press, 2005, pp. 213-222. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1420-9101.2004.00782.x. Details
• Hallas, Rebecca, Schiffer, Michele, and Hoffmann, Ary A., 'Clinal variation in Drosophila serrata for stress resistance and body size', Genetical Research, vol. 79, no. 2, Cambridge University Press, 2002, pp. 141-148. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0016672301005523. Details
• Hoffmann, Ary A. and Shirriffs, Jennifer, 'Geographic variation for wing shape in Drosophila serrata', Evolution, vol. 56, no. 5, 2002, pp. 1068-1073. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.0014-3820.2002.tb01418.x. Details
• Schiffer, Michele, and McEvey, Shane F., 'Drosophila bunnanda - a new species from northern Australia with notes on other Australian members of the montium subgroup (Diptera: Drosophilidae)', Zootaxa, no. 1333, 2006, pp. 1-23. http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2006f/z01333p023f.pdf. Details

See also

• Jenkins, N. L. and Hoffmann, A. A., 'Distribution of Drosophila serrata Malloch (Diptera: Drosophilidae) in Australia with particular reference to the southern border', Australian Journal of Entomology, vol. 20, 2001, pp. 41-48. http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1440-6055.2001.00197.x. Details
• Magiafoglou, A. and Hoffmann, A. A., 'Thermal adaptation in Drosophila serrata under conditions linked to its southern border: unexpected patterns from laboratory selection suggest limited evolutionary potential', Journal of Genetics, vol. 82, 2003, pp. 179-189. http://www.ias.ac.in/jgenet/Vol82No3/179.pdf. Details
• Magiafoglou, A. and Hoffmann, A. A., 'Cross generation effects due to cold exposure in Drosophila serrata', Functional Ecology, vol. 17, no. 5, 2003, pp. 664-672. http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2435.2003.00774.x. Details
• Schiffer, M., Carew, M. E. and Hoffmann, A. A., 'Molecular, morphological and behavioural data reveal the presence of a cryptic species in the widely studied Drosophila serrata species complex', Journal of Evolutionary Biology, vol. 17, no. 2, Blackwell Science, 2004, pp. 430-442. http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1420-9101.2003.00657.x. Details
• Schiffer, M., Gilchrist, A. S., and Hoffmann, A. A., 'The contrasting genetic architecture of wing size, viability, and development time in a rainforest species and its more widely distributed relative', Evolution, vol. 60, no. 1, The Company of Biologists Ltd, 2006, pp. 106-114. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16568636. Details
• Stocker, A. J., Foley, B. and Hoffmann, A. A., 'Inversion frequencies in Drosophila serrata along an eastern Australia transect', Genome, vol. 47, no. 6, 2004, p. 1144. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/g04-078. Details
• van Heerwaarden, B., Kellermann, V., Schiffer, M., Blacket, M., Sgrò, C. M., and Hoffmann, A. A., 'Testing evolutionary hypotheses about species borders: patterns of genetic variation towards the southern borders of two rainforest Drosophila and a related habitat generalist', Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, vol. 276, no. 1661, 2009, pp. 1517-1526. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2008.1288. Details