Isolation and characterization of 20 polymorphic microsatellite loci for 'Scaptodrosophila hibisci'

'Scaptodrosophila hibisci' is an endemic Australian Drosophilidae that breeds in the flowers of native 'Hibiscus'. Here we report the isolation and amplification of 20 polymorphic microsatellite loci. We cloned these microsatellites because loci developed for 'Drosophila melanogaster' failed to amplify in 'S. hibisci'. Null alleles were detected at six loci, and five were X-linked. Two of the primer pairs amplified an unlinked 'bonus' locus. One locus containing juxtaposed microsatellite loci was suitable for designing an additional set of primers. Mean number of alleles per locus was 10, mean Ho and HE per locus were 0.532 and 0.636, respectively.