Summary

Drosophila simulans is closely related to D. melanogaster and is also a member of the melanogaster species group (melanogaster subgroup) within the Sophophora subgenus.

Similar to D. melanogaster, D. simulans is also a cosmopolitan and urban species. It is most commonly found in close association with human habitation, but D. simulans will rarely enter a dwelling.

Drosophila simulans is an important model organism in speciation research due to its close relationship with D. sechellia and D. mauritiana. The D. simulans genome has been sequenced as part of a large comparative study.

Drosophila simulans is difficult to differentiate morphologically from D. melanogaster. Males of the two species differ in the external genitalia, while trained observers can separate females using banding characteristics and head morphology.

Related entries

Publication Citations

• Arthur, A. L., Weeks, A. R. and Sgrò, C. M., 'Investigating latitudinal clines for life history and stress resistance traits in Drosophila simulans from eastern Australia', Journal of Evolutionary Biology, vol. 21, no. 6, 2008, pp. 1470-1479. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1420-9101.2008.01617.x. Details
• Kriesner, P., Hoffmann, A. A., Lee, S. F., Turelli, M., and Weeks, A. R., 'Rapid Sequential Spread of Two Wolbachia Variants in Drosophila simulans', PLoS Pathogens, vol. 9, no. 9, 2013. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1003607. Details
• van Heerwaarden, B. and Sgrò, C. M., 'The effect of developmental temperature on the genetic architecture underlying size and thermal clines in Drosophila melanogaster and D. simulans from the east coast of Australia', Evolution, vol. 65, no. 4, 2011, pp. 1048-1067. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1558-5646.2010.01196.x. Details

See also

• Carrington, Lauren B., Lipkowitz, Jeremy R., Hoffmann, Ary A., and Turelli, Michael, 'A Re-Examination of Wolbachia-Induced Cytoplasmic Incompatibility in California Drosophila simulans', PLoS One, vol. 6, no. 7, 2011. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0022565. Details
• Hoffmann, Ary A. and Harshman, Lawrence G., 'Desiccation and starvation resistance in Drosophila:patterns of variation at the species, population and intrapopulation levels', Heredity, vol. 83, 1999, pp. 637-643. http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2540.1999.00649.x. Details
• Lee, S. F., Rako, L., and Hoffmann, A. A., 'Genetic mapping of adaptive wing size variation in Drosophila simulans', Heredity, vol. 107, no. 1, 2011, pp. 22-29. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/hdy.2010.150. Details