Abstract Two new Brazilian species of Drosophila (subgenus Drosophila) are described and illustrated: Drosophila asymmetrica sp. nov. and Drosophila peixotoi sp. nov. Both species were collected, and emerged, from inflorescences of Goeppertia monophylla (Marantaceae) in the urban Forest Reserve of the Instituto de Biociências da Universidade de São Paulo and their types will be deposited in the Museu de Zoologia da USP. The former species, which could not be assigned to any known group, has a conspicuously asymmetric aedeagus and a narrow oviscapt valve. The latter species belongs to the guarani group and is closely related to D. guaru, D. ornatifrons and D. subbadia, from which it can be distinguished by the presence of just one conspicuous large black spine at inner lower tip of cercus instead of two spines.

ABSTRACT A yellow-bodied male appeared spontaneously in an isofemale line of Drosophila nappae established from a wild-caught female collected at the Forest Reserve of the Instituto de Biociências da Universidade de São Paulo, Cidade Universitária "Armando de Salles Oliveira", São Paulo city, state of São Paulo, Brazil. This is the first mutation found in D. nappae, a species belonging to the tripunctata group. The yellow male was isolated and individually crossed to two wild-type (brown-colored) virgin females from the same generation, yielding numerous offspring. All F1 individuals were wild-type, but the phenotypes yielded in the F2 generation were wild-type females, and both wild-type and yellow-bodied males. The latter yellow male mutants backcrossed with virgin wild-type F1 females yielded four phenotypes (brown-colored and yellow-colored flies of both sexes), indicating an inheritance pattern of X-linked recessive. Chi-square goodness of fit tests (α = 5%) detected no significant differences among the number of flies per phenotype. The new mutation is hereby named yellow, due to its probable homology to a similar mutation with an identical inheritance pattern found in Drosophila melanogaster.

ABSTRACT In early March 2015, three males and two females of one unknown species of Drosophila were collected from a compost pile and some garbage cans in the west region of the city of São Paulo, state of São Paulo, Brazil. Morphologically it is easily identified by the presence of the following conspicuous features: a brownish dorsal stripe along pleura, an entirely iridescent silvery-whitish frons when seen directly from the front, and a row of cuneiform setae on anteroventral side of femur of foreleg; the former two traits being more evident in males. The species was easily reared in a modified banana-agar medium and two isofemale lines were established allowing to obtain mitotic cells showing a diploid chromosome number of 2n = 8. Based both on morphological and chromosomal features, in addition to the geographical distribution, we concluded that the unknown flies belong to Drosophila nasuta Lamb, 1914, a tropical species of the nasuta subgroup of the Drosophila immigrans species group. Photomicrographs of male imagines, terminalia, mitotic and meiotic metaphase plates, as well as of female mitotic metaphase, are included.

The invasive spotted-wing Drosophila (Diptera, Drosophilidae) has been found in the city of São Paulo (Brazil). Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura, 1931), the cherry fly or spotted-wing Drosophila, a pest species from the Oriental and southeastern Palaearctic regions belonging to the melanogaster group, invaded the Nearctic and western countries of the Palaearctic regions late last decade (2008) and, more recently (2013), the southern Brazilian states of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina. Early in 2014 it was reared from blueberries produced in São Joaquim, state of Santa Catarina, that were bought at a São Paulo city grocery store. Despite being a cold-adapted species, after having arrived to the southeastern state of São Paulo, this invasive fly will probably expand its territory to other Brazilian states and South American countries through trade of cultivated soft skin small fruits, such as blueberries and strawberries, as well as naturally through the use of small wild fruits as breeding sites.

This article is a testimonial written by the first author regarding the research work performed with Drosophila between 1943 and 1959, at the Departamento de Biologia Geral of the Universidade de São Paulo (USP), which permitted the building of a nucleus of excellence. This research work, focused on the systematics and population genetics of the Neotropical species, began during the first of Dobzhansky's six visits to USP. Special attention was given to the multinational megaprojects conducted during his longer stays, from August 1948 to July 1949 and from June 1955 to July 1956. The role played by the Rockefeller Foundation is duly remembered, and so is the undeniable contribution brought by Dobzhansky, to the establishment of several laboratories dedicated to research in the field of natural population genetics and to the qualification of human resources. On the other hand, important "backstage" episodes are retrieved which were omitted in the official history and occurred from the planning to the execution of the project, carried out on the Angra dos Reis islands. Special attention was given to the relationship problems which resulted from Dobzhansky's, the leader's, difficult personality and contributed to the failure of the second and last multinational project.

A short illustrated biography of Marta Erps Breuer (1902-1977), designer and lab technician at the University of São Paulo (Universidade de São Paulo), and a former Bauhaus student, is presented. Additionally, twenty fine China ink drawings of the male terminalia of twenty species of Neotropical Drosophila, made by her between October 4th, 1951, and March 24th, 1959, and currently deposited in the archives of the Department of Genetics and Evolutionary Biology of the Institute of Biosciences of the University of São Paulo (Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo), São Paulo, State of São Paulo, Brazil, are included. All illustrated species but one are members of one of the following seven groups of the subgenus Drosophila: annulimana, canalinea, cardini, coffeata, dreyfusi, repleta, and tripunctata. Besides being depicted in the same position, the illustrations are so precise that we believe they will be extremely useful for those interested in Drosophila spp. identification. A comprehensive list of her scientific papers is included among the references.

As fenologias de floração de quatro espécies de Solanaceae (Sessea brasiliensis, Cestrum amictum, C. schlechtendalii e C. sendtnerianum) presentes em um fragmento de Floresta Atlântica de planalto, encravado na cidade de São Paulo, foram determinadas por observações realizadas entre julho de 1993 e junho de 1995. Durante esses dois anos foram coletadas 33.955 flores das quais emergiram 11.021 moscas pertencentes a cinco espécies de Drosophila do grupo flavopilosa (D. cestri, D. cordeiroi, D. hollisae, D. incompta e D. mariaehelenae) e 1.244 moscas pertencentes a quatro espécies Zygothrica (Z. dispar, Z. vittimaculosa, Z. vittinubila e Z. aff. vittipunctata). Adicionalmente, das flores de S. brasiliensis e Cestrum spp. amostradas emergiram pelo menos outros dez táxons menos abundantes de Drosofilídeos e 1.073 microimenópteros parasitóides (Braconidae, Eucoilidae e Pteromalidae). Flores de Cestrum amictum, C. sendtnerianum e Sessea brasiliensis são registradas pela primeira vez como plantas hospedeiras para as espécies neotropicais de Drosophila pertencentes ao grupo flavopilosa. Os resultados aqui apresentados elevam de nove para onze o número de espécies de Cestrum previamente conhecidas como sítios de desenvolvimento larval dessas moscas. Inclui-se ainda uma lista completa das espécies de Solanaceae que já foram registradas nas regiões sudeste e sul do Brasil como plantas hospedeiras de seis espécies de Drosophila do grupo flavopilosa e de quatro espécies de Zygothrica.

The flowering phenologies of Sessea brasiliensis and three species of Cestrum (C. amictum, C. schlechtendalii and C. sendtnerianum), all belonging to the Solanaceae, were monitored in a fragment of the montane Atlantic rain forest within São Paulo city from July 1993 through June 1995. A total of 11,021 flies belonging to five species of the flavopilosa group of Drosophila (D. cestri, D. cordeiroi, D. hollisae, D. incompta and D. mariaehelenae), plus 1,244 flies belonging to four species of Zygothrica (Z. dispar, Z. vittimaculosa, Z. vittinubila and Z. aff. vittipunctata) emerged from 33,955 sampled flowers. Cestrum amictum, C. sendtnerianum and Sessea brasiliensis are recorded for the first time as host plants for the species of the Neotropical flavopilosa group ofDrosophila. Additionally, at least ten less abundant taxa belonging also to the Drosophilidae, plus 1,073 microhymenopteran parasitoids (Braconidae, Eucoilidae, and Pteromalidae), emerged from the sampled flowers of S. brasiliensis e Cestrum spp. The present study raised from nine to eleven the number of species of Cestrum previously recorded as breeding sites for these flies. A comprehensive list of species of Solanaceae known to host six species of Drosophila and four species of Zygothrica in southeastern and southern Brazil is included.

A reanalysis, based on museum specimens, of our previously published data on the geographical distribution of the species of Drosophila belonging to the cardini group in Brazil is presented and discussed. As previously recorded in several papers, including ours, the following four species were recognized: D. cardini, D. cardinoides, D. neocardini, and D. polymorpha. However, it was realized that most of the flies we have previously identified as Drosophila cardinoides belong in fact to Drosophila cardini. To facilitate the proper identification of these four near-sibling species, their holotypes were analyzed and their terminalia were described and illustrated. A key to the four species is also provided.

One new Brazilian species of Drosophila belonging to the nesiota subgroup of the flavopilosa group, which is recorded for the first time from the State of São Paulo, is illustrated and described as D. mariaehelenae, sp. nov. It has been found breeding on flowers of Cestrum intermedium Sendtn., together with D. cestri Brncic, D. cordeiroi Brncic, D. cordeiroi Brncic, D. flavopilosa Frey and D. incompta Wheeler & Takada, Zygothrica vittimaculosa Burla and one undetermined species of the Drosophila tripunctata species group. Photographs are provided of the male genitalia of the first four species.