Hawaiian Picture-wing Fly

Drosophila musaphilia is endangered and endemic to the island of Kauai. Hardy (1965) formally described Drosophila musaphilia from specimens collected at Kokee, Kauai, in 1952. This species is characterized by a predominantly black thorax with gray fuzz and a very narrow gray stripe extending down the top. The legs are dark brown to yellow, with the front tibia devoid of ornamentation, and the tips of the legs have abundant long, black hairs on top. The wings are three times longer than wide with characteristic markings of the D. hawaiiensis group. The abdomen is dark brown to black and densely covered with brown fuzz. The body length is about 0.2 in (5.0 mm) and the wings 0.207 in (5.25 mm) long (Kaneshiro and Kaneshiro 1995). Montgomery (1975) determined that the host plant for Drosophila musaphilia is Acacia koa. The females lay their eggs upon, and the larvae develop in, the moldy slime flux (seep) that occasionally appears on certain trees with injured plant tissue and seeping sap. Understanding the full range of D. musaphilia is difficult because its host plant, Acacia koa, is fairly common and stable within, and surrounding, its known range on Kauai; however, the frequency of suitable slime fluxes occurring on the host plant appears to be much more restricted and unpredictable (Science Panel 2005).