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[Display omitted] Incomplete Lineage Sorting (ILS) and introgression are among the two main factors causing incongruence between gene and species trees. Advances in phylogenomic studies have allowed us to overcome most of these issues, providing reliable phylogenetic hypotheses while revealing the underlying evolutionary scenario. Across the last century, many incongruent phylogenetic reconstructions were recovered for Drosophilidae, employing a limited sampling of genetic markers or species. In these studies, the monophyly and the phylogenetic positioning of the Zygothrica genus group stood out as one of the most controversial questions. Thus, here, we addressed these issues using a phylogenomic approach, while accessing the influence of ILS and introgressions on the diversification of these species and addressing the spatio-temporal scenario associated with their evolution. For this task, the genomes of nine specimens from six Neotropical species belonging to the Zygothrica genus group were sequenced and evaluated in a phylogenetic framework encompassing other 39 species of Drosophilidae. Nucleotide and amino acid sequences recovered for a set of 2,534 single-copy genes by BUSCO were employed to reconstruct maximum likelihood (ML) concatenated and multi-species coalescent (MSC) trees. Likelihood mapping, quartet sampling, and reticulation tests were employed to infer the level and causes of incongruence. Lastly, a penalized-likelihood molecular clock strategy with fossil calibrations was performed to infer divergence times. Taken together, our results recovered the subdivision of Drosophila into six different lineages, one of which clusters species of the Zygothrica genus group (except for H. duncani). The divergence of this lineage was dated to Oligocene ∼ 31 Mya and seems to have occurred in the same timeframe as other key diversification within Drosophila. According to the concatenated and MSC strategies, this lineage is sister to the clade joining Drosophila (Siphlodora) with the Hawaiian Drosophila and Scaptomyza. Likelihood mapping, quartet sampling, reticulation reconstructions as well as introgression tests revealed that this lineage was the target of several hybridization events involving the ancestors of different Drosophila lineages. Thus, our results generally show introgression as a major source of previous incongruence. Nevertheless, the similar diversification times recovered for several of the Neotropical Drosophila lineages also support the scenario of multiple and simultaneous diversifications taking place at the base of Drosophilidae phylogeny, at least in the Neotropics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impacts of anthropogenic activities are increasing at alarming rates, leading to biodiversity loss and the displacement of native habitats. One of the main contributors to human disturbances is livestock farming, which degrades native habitats through cattle grazing and trampling. To understand these impacts, we investigated the effects of cattle trampling on the structure and diversity of fruit-feeding butterflies in Restinga forests of southern Brazil. We addressed questions regarding the effects of cattle raising on butterfly diversity and composition, identified indicator species, and examined the influence of environmental variables on butterfly richness, dominance, abundance, and species composition. Our dataset comprises the long-term monitoring of fruit-feeding butterflies in Restinga forests from 2014 to 2019, across sites with low, medium, and high levels of disturbance due to cattle trampling. We found that medium and high levels of disturbance increased butterfly richness and abundance, whereas low-level disturbance was associated with lower abundance. Additionally, the species composition of butterflies in medium to highly disturbed sites differed from that in preserved Restinga forests, indicating that any perturbation can markedly alter alpha and beta diversity parameters. These changes simplify the native forest structure, open the canopy, disrupt the understory, and favor butterfly species commonly associated with disturbed forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Data for control strategies of Bactrocera oleae in places at risk of invasion. • There is presence potential of B. oleae on South America and Oceania. • Fopius arisanus presented a greater potential of geographic distribution. • Psyttalia concolor was highlighted in areas related to the olive tree crop. Abstract Bactrocera oleae (Rossi, 1790) (Diptera: Tephritidae) is monophagous and one of the primary plagues of the olive tree (Olea europaea L. (Lamiales: Oleaceae)), causing economic losses worldwide. The pest has been detected in the United States and Mexico, showing potential to invade new areas. Among the parasitoids used to control B. oleae , Fopius arisanus (Sonan, 1932) and Psyttalia concolor (Szépligeti, 1910) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) are considered cenobiont and sinovigene endoparasitoids. Through the study of the potential geographic distributions, the size of regions environmentally suitable for the species can be understood, and the areas of distribution of the pest can be related with those of the parasitoids, with the goal to estimate whether the parasitoids would be suitable for use in classic biological control. The aim of this study was to map the potential global distribution regions, with an emphasis on South America, of B. oleae and the two parasitoids F. arisanus and P. concolor and show the overlap of geographically environmentally adequate areas for the joint establishment of the pest and natural enemy. For map the potential global distribution regions, a predictive model correlative of the distribution of the species was used, generated from known data of the localities of occurrence of insects and environmental predictor variables. The algorithm chosen for the modeling was Max Entropy (MaxEnt). The evaluation of the model was based on the mean Area Under the Curve (AUC), which was 0.966, 0.982 and 0.995 for B. oleae , F. arisanus , and P. concolor , respectively, indicating good predictive performance of the models and reliable projections. In general, the most significant extent of the potential distribution of F. arisanus was observed in Asia (most likely because it is the region of origin), Central America and South America. In Africa and North America, F. arisanus was also the most comprehensively distributed, in general; however, in the regions related to the occurrence of B. oleae and olive cultivation, P. concolor presented a greater potential distribution than that of F. arisanus. In Europe and Oceania, P. concolor had potential distribution projected in areas with olive groves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we describe a new Zygothrica species that is morphologically, ecologically and evolutionarily related to Zygothrica vittimaculosa through molecular and morphological analyses. Moreover, we compare distribution, abiotic and biotic niches between both species and perform ecological simulations in order to assess the potential influence played by ecology versus geography in the divergence of the target species, which was also dated with the use of a nuclear marker. The aedeagus and wing morphometry patterns were underpinned by molecular evidence, as obtained for the mitochondrial COI and COII partitions. In fact, reciprocal monophyly and a barcoding gap were detected, in spite of the strict external resemblance, the strong abiotic and biotic niche overlaps and the frequent sympatry and syntopy observed between both species. Thus, we hypothesize here a mechanism of geographic speciation associated with a pattern of niche conservatism to the pair of Zygothrica species diverged at the Pliocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glyphosate is a non-selective and post-emergent herbicide that affects plant growth. Animal exposure to this herbicide can lead to adverse effects, such as endocrine disruption, oxidative stress and behavioural disorders. Drosophilids have been utilized previously as an effective tool in toxicological tests. In the present study, the effects of a glyphosate-based herbicide (Roundup [Original]) were investigated regarding oxidative stress, the antioxidant defence system and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity in Drosophila melanogaster . Flies (of both genders) that were 1 to 3 days old were exposed to different glyphosate concentrations (0.0 mg/L = control, 1.0 mg/L, 2.0 mg/L, 5.0 mg/L and 10.0 mg/L) in the diet for 24 h and 96 h. After the exposure periods, reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, antioxidant capacity against peroxyl radicals (ACAP) and lipid peroxidation (LPO) levels were quantified. In addition, the mRNA expression of antioxidant genes (i.e., keap1 , sod , sod2 , cat , irc , gclc , gclm , gss , trxt , trxr-1 and trxr-2 ) was evaluated via RT-PCR. Additionally, AChE activity was evaluated only after the 96 h exposure period. The results indicated that Roundup exposure leads to a reduction in ROS levels in flies exposed for 96 h. ACAP levels and gene expression of the antioxidant defence system exhibited an increase from 24 h, while LPO did not show any significant alterations in both exposure periods. AChE activity was not affected following Roundup exposure. Our data suggest that Roundup exposure causes an early activation of the antioxidant defence system in D. melanogaster , and this can prevent subsequent damage caused by ROS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within Drosophilidae, the Zygothrica genus group corresponds to a speciose mycophagous group, which remains insufficiently investigated despite its potential for ecological and evolutionary studies. The recognised gap in the knowledge of species diversity and the threat provided by global warming due to niche conservatism and stringent temperature and humidity requirements make this group an excellent candidate for testing the implementation of DNA barcoding, which is the aim of this study., Extensive prospecting in various parts of Brazil provided 220 specimens. Considering both the morphological and molecular results, these individuals consisted of 56 species that could be distributed into three categories: 22 corresponded to previously described species, 24 very likely corresponded to undescribed species, and 10 uncertain cases corresponded mainly to one or a few females. Intra-specific distances ranged from 0% to 5.3%, whereas inter-specific congeneric and inter-generic distances ranged from 2.4% to 21.7% and from 7.4% to 20% respectively. Moreover, all species were revealed as reciprocally monophyletic and presented positive barcoding gap values; 62.5% of them presented diagnostic characters. Although coalescent-based methodologies suggested some additional splitting, species initially considered to be different were never lumped together., Therefore, in general, DNA barcoding of mycophagous drosophilids provided results that are largely congruent throughout different molecular approaches and also with morphological boundaries. Several putative new species were revealed, highlighting the potential of cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) barcodes as a tool complementary to traditional taxonomy in unravelling cryptic diversity among Neotropical mycophagous drosophilids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how perceived pervasiveness of prejudice differentially affects high and low status group members' support for a low status group member who confronts. In Experiment 1 ( N = 228), men and women read a text describing sexism as rare or as pervasive and subsequently indicated their support for a woman who confronted or did not confront a sexist remark. Experiment 2 ( N = 324) specified the underlying process using a self-affirmation manipulation. Results show that men were more supportive of confrontation when sexism was perceived to be rare than when it was pervasive. By contrast, women tended to prefer confrontation when sexism was pervasive relative to when it was rare. Personal self-affirmation decreased men's and increased women's support for confrontation when prejudice was rare, suggesting that men's and women's support for confrontation when prejudice is rare is driven by personal impression management considerations. Implications for understanding how members of low and high status groups respond to prejudice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study provides new records on the distribution of 22 species of mycophagous Drosophilidae and reports the southernmost and/or northernmost register points for most of them. Climatic modeling analysis revealed that the sampled species are heterogeneous as concerns the patterns of potential geographical ranges. A regular pattern emerging from the evaluated models is that the minimum temperature of the coldest month is one of the most determinant variables of habitat suitability for most species, although the particular response patterns may be further subdivided. In particular, some putative geographically restricted species appear to be highly susceptible to minor increases in the minimal temperature ranges, indicating that they are potential targets for the temperature rises expected to affect the Neotropics over the next decades and centuries. Moreover, as our analyses detected niche conservatism signals among the studied species, potential range shifts in face of future climatic oscillations may also be questioned. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

• Neotropical species of the Zygothrica genus group comprise a monophyletic lineage. • Neither Hirtodrosophila nor Zygothrica are monophyletic. • Zygothrica is subdivided in five clades, one of which includes flower and fruit breeding species. • The use of fungi as breeding sites is a symplesiomorphy for the Zygothrica genus group. The Neotropical region harbors an astonishing diversity of species, but still encompasses the least studied biogeographic region of the world. These properties apply for different taxonomic groups, and can be exemplified by drosophilids. In fact, high levels of cryptic diversity have recently been discovered for Neotropical species of the Zygothrica genus group, but relationships among these species, or them and other Drosophilidae species still remains to be addressed. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the phylogenetic relationships between fungus-associated Neotropical species of the genera Hirtodrosophila, Mycodrosophila and Zygothrica , which together with Paramycodrosophila and Paraliodrosophila compose the Zygothrica genus group. For this, fragments of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunits I (COI) and II (COII) genes, and the nuclear alpha methyldopa (Amd) and dopa decarboxylase (Ddc) genes were newly characterized for 43 Neotropical specimens of fungus-associated drosophilids, and analyzed in the context of 51 additional Drosophilinae sequences plus one Steganinae outgroup. Based on the resulting phylogeny, the evolution of breeding sites usage was also evaluated through ancestral character reconstructions. Our results revealed the Zygothrica genus group as a monophyletic lineage of Drosophila that branches after the subgenera Sophophora and Drosophila. Within this lineage, Mycodrosophila species seem to encompass the early offshoot, followed by a grade of Hirtodrosophila species, with derived branches mostly occupied by representatives of Zygothrica. This genus, in particular, was subdivided into five major clades, two of which include species of Hirtodrosophila , whose generic status needs to be reevatuated. According to our results, the use of fungi as breeding sites encompasses a symplesiomorphy for the Zygothrica genus group, since one of the recovered clades is currently specialized in using flowers as breeding sites whereas a sole species presents a reversal to the use of fruits of a plant of Gentianales. So, in general, this study supports the paraphyly of Drosophila in relation to fungus-associated Neotropical species of Drosophilidae, providing the first molecular insights into the phylogenetic patterns related to the evolution of this diverse group of species and some of its characteristic traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]