Drosophila
Guides
Drosophila quinaria
Drosophila quinaria is a species of fruit fly in the Drosophila quinaria species group, first described by Loew in 1866. Unlike most members of its species group, which feed primarily on mushrooms, D. quinaria has independently evolved a diet of decaying vegetative matter. The species is part of a speciose lineage of mushroom-breeding flies that have been studied for their specialist ecology, host-parasite interactions, population genetics, and evolution of immune systems.
Macrocheles
Macrocheles is a genus of mites in the family Macrochelidae, containing over 80 described species. Members of this genus are primarily known for their phoretic associations with insects, particularly flies and beetles, though some species exhibit facultative or obligate parasitism. Research on Macrocheles muscaedomesticae has provided important insights into the evolutionary origins of parasitism from free-living ancestors. Species in this genus occupy diverse habitats including carrion, dung, decaying plant matter, and necrotic cacti, often following their insect hosts to these ephemeral resources.