Yeasts Isolated from Drosophila and from Their Suspected Feeding Places in Southern and Central California

Abstract

The taxonomic characteristics of 169 yeasts isolated from wild type Drosophila flies collected in their natural mountain environments and from various possible feeding or breeding places of these flies. Most of the organisms isolated from flies belonged to the genera Saccharomyces, Candida, Kloeckera and Hansenula. whereas most of those obtained from possible feeding places belonged to Candida and Pichia. Three new spp. are described; S. drosoghil-arum dobzhanskii and S. phaselosgorus, all isolated from flies collected in Southern California. S. drosophilarum was obtained also from a fly collected in Central California and from an insect-infected leaf obtained at Keen Camp in Southern California.