Maternally transmitted Wolbachia, Spiroplasma, and Cardinium bacteria are common in insects [1], but their interspecific spread is poorly understood. Endosymbionts can spread rapidly within host species by manipulating host reproduction, as typified by the global spread of wRi Wolbachia observed in Drosophila simulans [2, 3]. However, because Wolbachia cannot survive outside host cells, spread between distantly related host species requires horizontal transfers that are presumably rare [4-7]. Here, we document spread of wRi-like Wolbachia among eight highly diverged Drosophila hosts (10-50 million years) over only about 14,000 years (5,000-27,000). Comparing 110 wRi-like genomes, we find ≤0.02% divergence from the wRi variant that spread rapidly through California populations of D. simulans. The hosts include both globally invasive species (D. simulans, D. suzukii, and D. ananassae) and narrowly distributed Australian endemics (D. anomalata and D. pandora) [8]. Phylogenetic analyses that include mtDNA genomes indicate introgressive transfer of wRi-like Wolbachia between closely related species D. ananassae, D. anomalata, and D. pandora but no horizontal transmission within species. Our analyses suggest D. ananassae as the Wolbachia source for the recent wRi invasion of D. simulans and D. suzukii as the source of Wolbachia in its sister species D. subpulchrella. Although six of these wRi-like variants cause strong cytoplasmic incompatibility, two cause no detectable reproductive effects, indicating that pervasive mutualistic effects [9, 10] complement the reproductive manipulations for which Wolbachia are best known. "Super spreader" variants like wRi may be particularly useful for controlling insect pests and vector-borne diseases with Wolbachia transinfections [11].

Three hybridizing species-the clade [(Drosophila yakuba, D. santomea), D. teissieri]-comprise the yakuba complex in the D. melanogaster subgroup. Their ranges overlap on Bioko and São Tomé, islands off west Africa. All three species are infected with Wolbachia-maternally inherited, endosymbiotic bacteria, best known for manipulating host reproduction to favor infected females. Previous analyses reported no cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) in these species. However, we discovered that Wolbachia from each species cause intraspecific and interspecific CI. In D teissieri, analyses of F and backcross genotypes show that both host genotype and Wolbachia variation modulate CI intensity. Wolbachia-infected females seem largely protected from intraspecific and interspecific CI, irrespective of Wolbachia and host genotypes. Wolbachia do not affect host mating behavior or female fecundity, within or between species. The latter suggests little apparent effect of Wolbachia on premating or gametic reproductive isolation (RI) between host species. In nature, Wolbachia frequencies varied spatially for D. yakuba in 2009, with 76% (N = 155) infected on São Tomé, and only 3% (N = 36) infected on Bioko; frequencies also varied temporally in D. yakuba and D. santomea on São Tomé between 2009 and 2015. These temporal frequency fluctuations could generate asymmetries in interspecific mating success, and contribute to postzygotic RI. However, the fluctuations in Wolbachia frequencies that we observe also suggest that asymmetries are unlikely to persist. Finally, we address theoretical questions that our empirical findings raise about Wolbachia persistence when conditions fluctuate, and about the stable coexistence of Wolbachia and host variants that modulate Wolbachia effects.

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