Talk:Drosophila

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Moved from the text:

General Drosophila Melanogaster Overview Coming Soon

Contents

[edit] On the etymology

At the beginning of this article this can be read: (Greek δροσος, drosos, "dew", + φιλα phila, "loving"). Actually, φιλα doesn't exist in classic Greek with that meaning. When creating scientific names, Greek roots are modified into Latin spellings and, sometimes, Latin morphemes (-a is a femenine suffix). The most similar word should be φίλη (phílē, which means "a female friend" or "beloved", not "loving"); -phila is just a scientific creation from the verb φιλέω, philéō, "to love" + the Latin femenine suffix -a. - Piolinfax 13:25, 8 Aug 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Similar article

This article should be merged with Drosophila melanogaster. --24.14.254.14 02:34, 17 Dec 2004 (UTC) magefile

No, because it deals with the genus Drosophila, not with the species D.melanogaster. Nina 20:49, 17 Dec 2004 (UTC)
True, but considering that the genus Drosophila contains about 1000 species, much if not most of the material on this page is actually about D. melanogaster and should be moved there. We should mention somewhere that modern geneticists and molecular biologists often use the terms "Drosophila" and "fruit fly" sloppily to refer to Drosophila melanogaster. AxelBoldt 01:28, 6 Feb 2005 (UTC)
I found the same problem with the page for the genus Arabidopsis and the species Arabidopsis thaliana. I tried to fix it by changing the genus page. I moved out everything about thaliana and used a bold text at the top to redirect to the model system. Much of the problem is that people mistakenly link to Arabidopsis (or Drosophila) instead of the respective species pages. Then people start to add info assuming it is the page about the model system instead of the genus. David D. 20:36, 13 May 2005 (UTC)

[edit] References are suspect; suspecting sophisticated vandalism

Much of the information in this article was added on 25 Nov 2003 by user:Hopetocome (who seems to since have left Wikipedia); see [1]. A very strange edit [2] by user:Quyenphung on 17 May 2004 added quotes around a number of Hopetocome's statements and added references. I strongly suspect these references to be bogus: unless Quyenphung and Hopetocome are the same person, how would Quyenphung know the exact sources for the quoted statements? Furthermore, some of the claimed quotes are even non-grammatical.

If anyone has access to any of the cited sources, I would appreciate it if they could check the veracity of the claimed quotes. AxelBoldt 04:37, 6 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Well, I just did a Google search and found that at least the references to Weigmann 2003 are correct (see [3]). So probably everything is fine. AxelBoldt 04:58, 6 Feb 2005 (UTC)

[edit] General

I think this page needs a serious overhaul.

First of all, I think it is wise to make a clear separation between the genus and the various species, and the first line should indicate that D. melanogaster is a different page.

Secondly, the genus is highly paraphyletic, and taxonomic changes are expected. In this line, it should be better integrated with the higner levels ((sub-)family) as well as the subdivision in the genus (subgenera Sophophora, Drosophila and Idiomyia (next to 6 smaller genera) and lower levels). Cureently, there is no good published phylogeny, but a review of an article has been submitted that sums the current status of the genus. In that line, the list of species should be removed and replaced with a link to Taxodros, as that is the best and most complete overview of all species. A seperate section can be made for those species that do have a seperate page on wiki. Else, we could just dump all species on the list, but the taxonomic changes in the genus are pretty frequent, so that requires a lot of maintenance.

There is a tremendous amount of information on this genus available, but the current status is just a poor representation. I would opt for seperate headers for general information about morphology, ecology, physiology, behavviour, etc etc etc in so far it is genus level information, not melanogaster. --KimvdLinde 02:26, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

I made a cleaned up version for the time being at User:KimvdLinde/Drosophila--KimvdLinde 04:25, 30 January 2006 (UTC)
I find long lists of red links to be less than helpful. It would be more useful to have a section that describes some of the diversity of the genus, links to the few existing Wikipedia articles for Drosophila species, and cites an authoritative source that provides a long list of species. (Good start towards such a revised section.) --JWSchmidt 04:36, 30 January 2006 (UTC) (first link edited after changing this point--KimvdLinde 15:52, 30 January 2006 (UTC))
I changed it to the suggested version.....--KimvdLinde 04:47, 30 January 2006 (UTC)
I made a general revision of the article. It still needs some work, but it's getting there. KarlM 07:20, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

This quote is valid for Drosophila melanogaster, not the genus: "The fruit fly, is a cosmopolitan holometabolous insect, that is found in all warm countries, while in cooler regions, it is established by migrants during the summer or can over winter in warm places." (Weigmann, 2003) I will move it. --KimvdLinde 01:14, 1 February 2006 (UTC)


I added some clarification on the Idiomyia issue. The classification of Hawaiian species under this name was never accepted, but got propagated mainly through databases that include whatever is published. Since the original change was made in a major monograph and the article correcting and undoing it was a short note, many sites still have Idiomyia. We shouldn't be propogating its use as if there is debate about which classification is correct. It's a little long for a footnote, but when I get around to writing a separate page on Hawaiian Drosophilidae I'll move it there. KarlM 21:55, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

Well, an article does a proposal for change, and if others agree, it is followed. If it is not followed, it might not be accepted. So, it is slightly more difficult that just that. Just brushing aside the database of dr. Bächli as merely a database that juist publishes everything what is out there is incorrect. Only changes that seem to be stable are added to the database (pers. com. dr. Bächli). Om a different note, it is just a matter of time till the genus will be split in four major genera and Idiomyia will be a proper genus again. -- Kim van der Linde at venus 00:36, 29 May 2006 (UTC)
Speaking as someone who works with Hawaiian Drosophilidae, I don't think there is much debate about which is valid: Idiomiya is not. The problem with it is that Grimaldi's classification was based on a morphological analysis, and had the Hawaiian Drosophila as a non-monophyletic grouping, with the crassifemur species group placed in with the genus Scaptomyza, and with the Hawaiian Scaptomyza as a non-monophyletic grouping. To the best of my knowledge, every single molecular study conducted since then has shown that the Hawaiian Drosophila are in fact monophyletic. Further complicating affairs, Grimaldi's Idiomiya is a radically different genus from the original Idiomiya, which initially included only a small subset of the picture-wings. MikeDunford 21:00, 30 May 2006 (UTC)
If you would split the genus Drosophila, the taxonomical valid name will be Idiomyia. That Grimaldi's Idiomyia was radically different than the original is actually quite irrelevant, when it is established that a certain group needs a genus name, the oldest valid synonym of which the type species is within the group will become the genus name. This can and will require a redescription of the genus, which Grimaldi actually did. However, the genus Drosophila is a paraphyletic mess, which requires quite a big change in the nonemclature to resolve, and hopefully will be done within the near future. -- Kim van der Linde at venus 21:10, 30 May 2006 (UTC)
Fair enough, with regard to Idiomiya, except that the redescription is currently not attached to a clearly monophyletic group, and is itself in need of a redescription. With regard to the paraphyly of Drosophila, it is a huge mess, but I doubt it will get fixed any time soon, unless an exemption is granted to redesignate the type species for the genus. I've got a feeling that any attempt to remove melanogaster from Drosophila will result in much wailing and gnashing of teeth, but right now the type is funebris, and any possible redefinition would put funebris and melanogaster in separate genera. MikeDunford 22:50, 30 May 2006 (UTC)
It would be needed to set funebris and all other type speciemens aside by the ICZN, and mel has to become the new type. After that, splitting will leave D. mel with the correct name and saves a war among drosophilists. If you want more information, please, contact me off wiki, just follow the links --> -- Kim van der Linde at venus 01:35, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Idiomyia again

Okay, let's look at this quantitatively. Since Grimaldi's classification of the Hawaiian species in Idiomyia in 1990:

number of Hawaiian drosophilid papers using Drosophila: ~60

number of papers mentioning Idiomyia at all: 2

number of those papers endorsing that classification: 0

number of Hawaiian species described under Drosophila: 33

number of Hawaiian species described under Idiomyia: 0

That sounds like a consensus to me. Certainly not widely accepted. Until you publish your paper, it hardly merits a footnote as an oddity. This is not the place for pushing pet theories. KarlM 06:02, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

  1. You might have only two article mentioning Idiomyia, I just counted already 13 pdf's in my collection, not to mention the paper reprints not available as PDF.
  2. You may want to put Bachli aside, I do not. As far as I know, he is the contact person regarding Drosophilidae taxonomy for the Diptera database, which is subsequently used by institutes as the ICZN, etc.
  3. Most articles that discuss the issue either mention it as unresolved or just avoid the issue and mention 'Hawaiian Drosophila' next to 'Drosophila' , not just one big blop of 'Drosophila' .
  4. O'Grady has only in 2002 proposed to synonymize Idiomyia with Drosophila, which based on Bachli's database, who has not followed it, has not yet been accepted by all major Drosophilidae taxonomists in the world.
Based on this, it is clear that there is just no consensus among taxonomists (just take O'Grady versus Bachli) and that seems to be the most sound way to describe the current situation. -- Kim van der Linde at venus 04:15, 1 September 2006 (UTC)
  1. Can you give some citations? The figure of 2 came from a ZooRecord/Biosis search, so if it wasn't mentioned in the abstract it wouldn't have come up. However, I've been working on Hawaiian Drosophila for 12 years and have never seen one that took Idiomyia seriously. The fact that some people who aren't familiar with the classification of the group used it in a catalog doesn't make it valid.
  2. I put it aside because a database is not a published work. Regardless of his standing and ability as a systematist, anybody can put their pet theories in a database with no criticism. When his paper resurrecting (and defining, since the only available definition only covers the planitibia group) Idiomyia is published, let me know and I may change my mind. Moreover, I don't wish to disparage Bachli's knowledge or abilities as a systematist, but since nothing he has published has involved Idiomyia or Hawaiian drosophilids, I wouldn't consider him an expert in the group.
  3. The fact that articles that mention the issue call it unresolved is due to most articles not mentioning it at all. Only the extremely small minority who support it would call it unresolved. "Hawaiian Drosophila" is widely used as an equivalent to one of the larger species groups, like virilis-repleta, not "avoiding the issue". Since the Hawaiian drosophilids are not sister to the remainder of Drosophila, it's wrong to write it like that.
  4. Regardless of whether Bachli has updated his database, Idiomyia has still been formally synonymized again. What counts is what is published, not what someone is thinking in their head or on their web site. Moreover, you make it sound like it's just O'Grady vs. Bachli and I only have this position because I'm O'Grady's mouthpiece, which is not true. NO ONE working on Hawaiian Drosophilidae uses Idiomyia.
This is way more time than is worth spending on what seems to be a minor matter of wording, but it's especially frustrating to me because it exemplifies one of the biggest problems in science: lay people thinking that fringe ideas are mainstream because the people who hold them shout the loudest. It's no different from "teach the controversy", and half the people in the US thinking that there is a debate about evolution among biologists. I find it especially ironic given the rant you have on your user page about Wikipedia being a useless bunch of POV-pushers, when you are doing precisely the same thing here. KarlM 05:44, 1 September 2006 (UTC)
You know, have it your way. -- Kim van der Linde at venus 13:19, 1 September 2006 (UTC)


[edit] Question concerning "Musca funebris"

How come we have it as Musca funebris, even though it's a redirect to Drosophilia funebris? Why are we not allowed to change it?--Mr Fink 05:52, 9 December 2006 (UTC)

This is because it was originally described with that name. When the genus Drosophila was described, Fallén used the species Musca funebris as the type. KarlM 07:21, 16 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Pictures

I moved two of the three new pictures over to Drosophila melanogaster, since they're pretty much specific to it. It's worth having one demonstrating eye mutants, since that's mentioned in the article, but it's really about the genus as a whole. KarlM 07:21, 16 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Sperm length

I changed the first reference (bifurca = 6 cm sperm), and added another ref for "few giant sperm..." Flyguy649talkcontribs 06:22, 23 June 2007 (UTC)

And yes, you read that correctly. 5.8 centimetres, not millimetres. Flyguy649 talk contribs 17:15, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Eye color pic not displaying

Anybody know why the thumbnail for the eye color picture isn't showing up in the page? If you click on the link the full picture displays fine, and it's encoded the same as it's always been, so I don't understand why it's not working. KarlM 22:25, 16 September 2007 (UTC)

There's a problem with WikiCommon's server. It's one of those "Technical Difficulties" moments.--Mr Fink 22:28, 16 September 2007 (UTC)
Wow, you're quick at catching comments! I just noticed the header about that and came back to delete my post, figuring no one would have read it yet. KarlM 22:43, 16 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] 12 new genomes!