A Hierarchical View of the Hawaiian Drosophilidae (Diptera)

Abstract

As the pioneer natural historian of the Hawaiian entomofauna, R. C. L. Perkins showed a keen interest in the Diptera, in general, and the Drosophilidae, in particular. Perkins described and named two of the most charismatic of the Hawaiian picture-winged drosophilid flies: Idiomyia heteroneura and I. silvestris. These two species are part of a chromosomally homosequential quartet of species that have garnered the attention of research programs of numerous biologists. In this paper we review the evidence on the phylogenetic relationships among the flies in this quartet and suggest some guidelines for the inference of phylogeny within this quartet of species as further data accumulate. Perkins was also one of the first to recognize the extent of diversity of the Drosophilidae within and among islands of the archipelago. Several more-recent research programs have concentrated on understanding the evolutionary history of this diversification. Two questions regarding the high degree of diversity of these flies are discussed from a systematic perspective in this paper. The first concerns the relationships of the major species groups assemblages of the Hawaiian drosophilids. The second focuses on the origin of the Hawaiian drosophiloid and scaptomyzoid flies.