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Hey Dipterists! Can anyone confirm Drosophila hydei?

best wishes,

Rob

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Not easy to decide. Dark rings at the bases of tibiae show D. buzzatii. This species should have pale "windows" on the ventrolateral parts of abdominal tergites, which is not seen in this pcture. Despite that I think this is D. buzzatii, only the second record from Britain. This species develops mainly in cacti.
Capturing of a male would be crucial to confirm or not this determination.

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Hi @Jan Maca Thanks so much for the help. I'm very gracious. D. buzzatii was a possibility and I'm wondering how I went past it in the keys I was using. I will be sure to check the tergites now. Is it the darkness of the photo do you think or the orientation that thwarts this character? I only have two females but might get them sequenced. :P

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I have seen ony a few D. buzzatii, so that I cannot exclude that dark individuals lack the windows or almost so. The orientation of photos seems me OK, but the lower part of abdomen is shadowed, which might obscure this character. Please get at least one specimen sequenced and then tell me (janxmaca@seznam.cz) the result.

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@Jan Maca I have looked at the specimens again and I wouldn't say there is any obvious windowing. The character that excluded buzzatii was the
lack of a darkened part of the first costal section.

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Yes, but these darkened bases of tibiae are puzzling...,Maybe the sequencing could tell us more.
Jan

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Sequencing results are back and it has come out as Drosophila hydei Sturtevant, 1921.
Interesting!

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Many of the very dark specimens (older specomens) of hydei can have bases of tibiae darkened, see, e.g., the large version of the image top right on https://en.wikipe...hila_hydei

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In some cases, just an opinion can be achieved on the base of photographs only.
Molecular analysis is more reliable, and I thank you, Bob, for arranging it.
Jan