The Drosophilidae (Diptera) of Lithuania

Abstract

The Baltic countries represent a veritable terra incognita on the Drosophilidae map of Europe. To remedy the situation we arranged two collecting trips across the three Baltic countries in the summer of 2000. The first trip was made in early summer to get spring species such as Chymomyza and the second one in late August to get the mushroom-feeding species. In general the drosophilid fauna of the Baltic resembles the well-known fauna of the Nordic countries. The most interesting result is that Chymomyza amoena was found in Estonia and Lithuania. This American species is a recent invader of central Europe. Another interesting finding was relative rarity of Drosophila subobscura and virtual absence of the D. virilis group species. The latter have become uncommon in Sweden and Finland in recent years as well.

The Drosophilidae (Diptera) of Estonia

“…This is by far the northernmost record of this species. We have earlier found the species in Lithuania (Escher et al 2004).…”