Somatic chromosomes and Giemsa C-banding patterns of three species of fruit flies belonging to the genus Dacus, viz., D. cucurbitae, D. zonatus and D. diversus are described. There are five pairs of long, euchromatic autosomes and one pair of smaller sex chromosomes which are homomorphic in females (XX) and heteromorphic in males (XY). In all the species the Y chromosome is in the form of a dot while the X chromosome varies in morphology. The autosomes of D. cucurbitae and D. zonatus are characterized by distinct C-bands, however, the C-bands are not very clear in 1). diversus. Y chromosomes in all the species are C-band positive. The X chromosomes of D. cucurbitae and D. diversus are C-band positive but those of D. zonatus show only a small interstitial band.orchards and fields and brought to the laboratory to obtain larvae and pupae of D. zonatus, D. cucurbitae and D. diversus, respectively. Stocks were maintained in the laboratory at 26-28°C. Adults were fed on enzymatic yeast hydrolysate (N.B.C.) and sugar solution. Pieces of pumpkin were provided for oviposition and larvae allowed to grow on the same for 4-5 days. For pupation sand was provided and when pupation was complete, pupae were collected from the sand and transferred to insect rearing cages in petri dishes to maintain the next generation. The cytological techniques used were identical to those reported by Kaul et al. (1978).
Observations
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