ABSTRACT The Afrotropical Zaprionus Coquillett, 1902 (Diptera: Drosophilidae) has gained visibility since the 1990s due to the geographic expansion of Zaprionus indianus Gupta, 1970. More recently, a second species, Zaprionus tuberculatus Malloch, 1932, invaded regions outside its original African regions, causing economic concerns, particularly in Europe. In 2021, Z. tuberculatus was captured for the first time in the Americas, specifically in urban parks, and preserved fragments of the Brazilian Cerrado, causing concerns about the competition with native drosophilids. Here we report the occurrence of Z. tuberculatus 900 km from its first record in urban and rural areas of Viçosa, MG, but not in forest fragments. Considering the great capacity for dispersion and the potential of Z. tuberculatus to compete with native drosophilids species, as well as the potential harm to fruit production when co-occurring with Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura, 1931), further studies would be necessary to monitor this invasion and create mechanisms to control it.

Abstract The Cerrado (Brazilian Savanna) biome suffers intense degradation due to several anthropic activities and its recovery is extremely important for the restoration of environmental quality. Therefore, the present study tested the survival and growth of seedlings of the grass Schizachyrium tenerum produced by the division of clumps. The experiment was carried out in a greenhouse using Reddish Oxisol, dystrophic of “cerrado sensu stricto” and Litholic Neosol dystrophic of quartzitic rupestrian grassland with and without the addition of limestone and NPK. Survival of S. tenerum was also compared between being grown in a greenhouse and directly in the field in full sun. Seedlings of S. tenerum had greater survival, total growth, number of tillers and accumulation of biomass when cultivated in Reddish Oxisol and Reddish Oxisol with limestone added than in the other treatments. Seedling survival was three times greater when grown in a greenhouse than in full sun.