Drosophila mercatorum is a species of fruit fly in the genus Drosophila, repleta subgroup, described by Patterson and Wheeler in 1942.[1][2] Thought to be native to South America, its subspecies D. m. mercatorum now has a cosmopolitan distribution. The other subspecies, D. m. pararepleta, is confined to the east of the Andes mountains.

Drosophila mercatorum
A D. mercatorum female
Scientific classification
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Drosophila mercatorum
Binomial name
Drosophila mercatorum
Patterson and Wheeler, 1942

It is used in scientific studies of parthenogenesis since it was discovered to have low levels of naturally occurring thelytoky.[3]

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References

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  1. ^ Bisby F.A.; Roskov Y.R.; Orrell T.M.; Nicolson D.; Paglinawan L.E.; Bailly N.; Kirk P.M.; Bourgoin T.; Baillargeon G.; Ouvrard D. (red.) (2011). "Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2011 Annual Checklist". Species 2000: Reading, UK.
  2. ^ Systema Dipterorum. Pape T. & Thompson F.C. (eds), 2011
  3. ^ Templeton, A.R. (1979). "The parthenogenetic capacities and genetic structures of sympatric populations of Drosophila mercatorum and Drosophila hydei". Genetics. 92 (4): 1283–1293. PMC 1214071. PMID 17248952.