Hybridization between Drosophila setifemur and D. spinofemora.

Abstract

Drosophila setifemur Malloch and D. spinofemora Sturtevant can be hybridized in the laboratory without difficulty. From the cross spinofemora x setifemur, hybrids of both sexes are fertile, but in the reciprocal cross the male hybrids are sterile. In the salivary-gland chromosomes of the hybrids there is no indication of any gross structural differences. Maternal inheritance is suggested as a possible explanation for some physiological differences observed between parent species and the hybrids. A revised systematic description of D. setifemur is presented.