This picture-wing fly is an endangered endemic species found only on the island of Oahu. Drosophila obatai was described by Hardy and Kaneshiro in 1972, from specimens collected in the Waianae Mountains of Oahu. D. obatai resembles D. sodomae from Maui and Molokai and is distinguished by small differences in wing markings and the black coloration of the abdomen. Drosophila obatai larvae feed within decomposing portions of Pleomele forbesii and Pleomele aurea (both in the family Agavaceae) (Kaneshiro and Kaneshiro 1995; Montgomery 1975). These host plants grow on slopes in dry forest and diverse mesic forest, and occur singly or in small clusters, rarely forming large stands (Wagner et al. 1999).