Zygothrica Wiedemann, 1830

Hochmüller, Cleverton J. C., Lopes-Da-Silva, Marcelo, Valente, Vera L. S. & Schmitz, Hermes J., 2010, The Drosophilid Fauna (Diptera, Drosophilidae) Of The Transition Between The Pampa And Atlantic Forest Biomes In The State Of Rio Grande Do Sul, Southern Brazil: First Records, Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia 50 (19), pp. 285-295 : 293-294

Genus Zygothrica Wiedemann

Two species of this genus were found, exclusively in the forest, both of which belonging to the Z. vittimaculosa group. Fruit-baited traps are usually ineffective to catch species from this genus.

Zygothrica vittimaculosa group – Z. vittimaculosa Burla was the most common species of the genus, almost all individuals caught on a winter sample. It is the only species of the group recorded in Rio Grande do Sul. Another species of this group was found, named here Z. sp.1, maybe constituting a new species.

Subfamily Steganinae

Generally neglected by many researches on drosophilids, members of this subfamily are rarely attracted to banana baits and, therefore, there is no record of the subfamily in Rio Grande do Sul. Three genera, with one species each, were found in Cruz Alta, all of which in CEPPA.

Genus Amiota Loew – The species found here, A. sp.1, is probably the same cited by Schmitz et al. (2007) as A. sp.2.

Genus Leucophenga Mik – It was represented here by L. maculosa . This species has been collected in several localities in Rio Grande do Sul. It was first seen in Arambaré (Gisele S. da Silva, unpublished) and later in Porto Alegre (Carolina F. Garcia, unpublished) and Cruz Alta.

Genus Rhinoleucophenga Hendel – One single individual of R. obesa was found, with a new southernmost locality for the species.

As seen in our results, a considerable portion of the drosophilid fauna found in Cruz Alta is poorly known, represents new records for the state or remains undescribed. The locality surveyed is an area of special interest for representing a zone of contact of the two southern Brazilian biomes, the Atlantic Forest and the Pampa . It presents, however, a high anthropogenic influence, with the original environment highly fragmented. A considerable portion of the drosophilid fauna was found only in the forest fragment and not in the urban area. Although some of the original biodiversity may be lost, and the forest fragment studied here was shown to be highly invaded by at least one exotic species, maybe it still represents a refuge for many Neotropical species. Other inventories like the present one are needed, in order to map satisfactorily the whole biodiversity of the region, and to serve as subsidies to conservation planning.