Drosophila virilis is a species of fruit fly with a worldwide distribution (probably due to human movements[1]), and was one of 12 fruit fly genomes sequenced for a large comparative study.[2] The males have bright red gonads that can be seen through the cuticle.

Drosophila virilis
A D. virilis male
Illustration of a D. virilis male
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera
Family: Drosophilidae
Subfamily: Drosophilinae
Genus: Drosophila
Subgenus: Drosophila
Species group: virilis
Species:
D. virilis
Binomial name
Drosophila virilis
A D. virilis male (top) and female (bottom), showing the bright red gonads of the male

The life cycle of D. virilis is longer than that of D. melanogaster, in part owing to its larger body size; adult D. virilis are approximately twice the size of D. melanogaster.[3]

Phylogeny

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D. virilis belongs to the virilis group, which diverged around 7 to 11 million years ago, during the period of the Early Miocene.[4] This event split the virilis group into the montana and virilis phylads, which include the species Drosophila montana and Drosophila virilis, respectively.[4] Divergence of these phylads preceded the group's movement from South Asia into North America.[4]

References

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  1. ^ Mirol, PM; Routtu, J; Hoikkala, A; Butlin, RK (2008). "Signals of demographic expansion in Drosophila virilis". BMC Evol. Biol. 8: 59. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-8-59. PMC 2276204. PMID 18298823.
  2. ^ Drosophila 12 Genomes Consortium; et al. (2007). "Evolution of genes and genomes on the Drosophila phylogeny". Nature. 450 (7167): 203–218. Bibcode:2007Natur.450..203C. doi:10.1038/nature06341. PMID 17994087.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ Therese A. Markow; Patrick M. O'Grady (2005). Drosophila: A guide to species identification and use. London: Elsevier. ISBN 978-0-12-473052-6.
  4. ^ a b c Parker, Darren J; Wiberg, R Axel W; Trivedi, Urmi; Tyukmaeva, Venera I; Gharbi, Karim; Butlin, Roger K; Hoikkala, Anneli; Kankare, Maaria; Ritchie, Michael G (13 July 2018). "Inter and Intraspecific Genomic Divergence in Drosophila montana Shows Evidence for Cold Adaptation". Genome Biology and Evolution. 10 (8): 2086–2101. doi:10.1093/gbe/evy147. ISSN 1759-6653. PMC 6107330. PMID 30010752.
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