The Drosophilidae (Diptera) of western Victoria, Australia

The Drosophilidae (Diptera) fauna of Australia is largely restricted to rainforests, moist temperate forests, and ecological niches that afford some relief from desiccation stress. Tropical Queensland has 255 described species in 35 genera, subtropical NSW 138 species in 21 genera, temperate Victoria 42 species in 8 genera, cold-temperate Tasmania 21 species in 5 genera, and dry-temperate South Australia 17 species in 4 genera. Western Victoria has 19 species in 5 genera (Table 1); only <i>Drosophila prodispar</i> (in the <i>D. setifemur</i> species group, subgenus <i>Sophophora</i>) is endemic to this region. About half of the species known from western Victoria are drawn to fruit baits (e.g., rotting-banana bait), the remainder, including <i>D. prodispar</i>, may only be collected using a sweep net or Malaise trap (Table 1). Table 2 gives the detailed results of collecting in western Victoria in February 2016. Voucher specimens are held in the Australian Museum, Sydney. <i>Drosophila prodispar</i> remains rare (only 11 specimens are known, all in AMS and ANIC, see Table 3), no further material was collected during the present survey. The author acknowledges the State Government of Victoria, Department of Environment, Land, Water &amp; Planning for permission to collect and the Australian Museum Research Institute, Sydney.