Abstract
In February 1978, in Puerto Montt (Chile) the palearctic species Drosophila subobscura was detected. The expansion of the species in this country has been very rapid, and now it is found over a distance of at least 2000 km North-South. The newly established populations are very flourishing and show a high degree of inversion chromosomal polymorphism. On the basis of the chromosomal arrangements present, an hypothesis can be formulated about the origin and characteristics of the founder group. Possibly, the founders came from Eastern or South Eastern Spain and formed a group of 10 or more individuals. The colonization of D. subobscura in Chile seems to follow the model of expansion of a cosmopolitan species, passively transported by man rather than the more active expansion of colonizers less tied to human activity, envisaged in Carson's models of colonization processes. The high level of chromosomal polymorphism observed in the populations of D. subobscura in Chile, coincides with this interpretation.
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This work has been supported by a grant from the ‘Programa de Cooperación con Iberoamérica. Ministerio de Universidades e Investigación. Spain’, by the ‘Comisión de Investigación de la Universidad de Chile (Proyecto B-027-794)’ and ‘Proyecto PNUD/UNESCO (RLA 78/024)’.
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Brneie, D., Prevosti, A., Budnik, M. et al. Colonization of Drosophila subobscura in Chile I. First population and cytogenetic studies. Genetica 56, 3–9 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00126923
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00126923