What is Drosophila pseudoobscura?
{{italictitle}} '''''Drosophila pseudoobscura''''' is a [[species]] of [[Drosophila|fruit fly]], used extensively in [[lab]] studies of the [[genetics]] of natural populations. It was first used by [[Theodosius Dobzhansky]] and his colleagues. They collected samples from populations in western [[North America]] and [[Mexico]], and grew them in 'population cages' in the laboratory. They were interested in [[natural selection]], [[genetic drift]], and other aspects of [[population genetics]].<ref>Dobzhansky T. 1970. ''Genetics of the evolutionary process''. Columbia University Press, New York.</ref><ref>Dobzhansky T. 1981. ''Dobzhansky's Genetics of natural populations I-XLIII''. R.C. Lewontin, J.A. Moore, W.B. Provine & B. Wallace, eds. Columbia University Press, New York. (reprints the 43 papers in this series, all but two of which were authored or co-authored by Dobzhansky)</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.2307/2405795 | last1 = Dobzhansky | first1 = T. | last2 = Pavlovsky | first2 = O. | year = 1957 | title = An experimental study of interaction between genetic drift and natural selection | url = http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/ridley/classictexts/dobzpav.asp | journal = Evolution | volume = 11 | issue = 3| pages = 311–319 | jstor = 2405795 }} </ref> [[File:Drosophila speciation experiment.svg|thumb|center|400px|Dodd's experiment.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://eebweb.arizona.edu/Courses/Ecol525/Readings/Dodd_1989.pdf |title=Dodd's publication |access-date=2010-12-27 |archive-date=2013-07-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130725150404/http://eebweb.arizona.edu/Courses/Ecol525/Readings/Dodd_1989.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>]] In 1989 Diane Dodd gave laboratory populations of ''D. pseudoobscura'' two different food types, [[starch]] and [[maltose]]. They rapidly evolved into two distinct groups after only eight generations with the different foods. As the two groups both showed a strong preference for mating with their own type, this was claimed as an example of [[speciation]] by [[reproductive