Seasonal life cycles and resource uses of flower-and fruit-feeding drosophilids (Diptera, Drosophilidae) were studied at low to high altitudes in central Japan to understand their adaptation to seasonal changes of environmental conditions. Drosophila unipectinata 3

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In the aggregation theory, aggregation of eggs is one of important conditions for the coexistence of species. However, aggregation of eggs by clutch laying does not always promote coexistence, whereas aggregation of eggs by aggregated distributions of ovipositing females always has a significant contribution to the coexistence. In this study, spatial distributions of three Drosophila species across naturally occurring cherry fruits were studied with relation to their clutch sizes. Drosophila suzukii oviposited eggs mainly on fresh fruits on trees, and its eggs were randomly distributed across cherry fruits. The emergence data also indicated random spatial distributions of this species. Random egg distributions of this species are explained by random visits of females to fruits and the production of clutches of mostly single eggs. On the other hand, D. lutescens and D. rufa oviposited on fallen fruits, showed aggregated distributions in the emergence data, and frequently produced clutches of a few eggs. In these species, the degree of aggregation was usually significantly lower than the expectation based on random visits of females to fruits and their clutch sizes observed in the present experiments, indicating that their aggregation is unlikely to arise from aggregated distributions of ovipositing females. Thus, the spatial aggregation of these species does not necessarily lead to their coexistence.

Despite the intensive use of the Leptopilina genus and its drosophilid hosts as model-systems in the study of host-parasitoid interactions, the diversity and distribution of the species occurring in the Asian region remain elusive. Here we report the phylogeny of Japanese Leptopilina species attacking frugivorous drosophilid flies, japonica occurring in Japan, and L. j. formosana occurring in Taiwan. According to these results, we discuss the evolution, speciation and colonization history of Japanese Leptopilina species.

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