Caracterização da assembleia de Drosophila (Diptera: Drosophilidae) em áreas de produção de pequenos frutos no Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil

Abstract

Drosophilidae (Diptera) can serve as a model in studies in the areas of genetics, evolution, ecology, among others, in addition to presenting species of economic importance. These insects have a wide distribution worldwide, with many species in the Neotropical region. Furthermore, drosophilids contribute a lot in the area of taxonomy, and there is a lack of studies that identify this group of insects in rural areas, anthropized and/or associated with fruit crops. In this sense, the present study was important to answer questions about the population dynamics of drosophilids in three areas with fruit cultivation, close or not to forest areas in localities in the south of Rio Grande do Sul. The identification of insects was made based on the analysis of the external morphology and the male terminalia. A total of 4221 individuals were identified, of which 3119 were assigned to 41 species of the genus Drosophila, and another 1102 individuals were identified at group level. The species D. simulans, D. hydei, D. mercatorum and D. suzukii were the most abundant. Among the three studied areas, the location with the highest richness was Cascatinha. The most abundant season was autumn, and the most abundant month was the month of May. Possibly, the decline in the abundance of species in spring is related to coinciding with the flowering and fruiting period of most of the crops sampled, in which there are not enough fruits and, therefore, fewer resources. We can conclude that small fruit cultivation areas have great potential for species survey studies and for the ecological understanding of the Drosophila genus.