On Marta Breuer and some of her unpublished drawings of Drosophila spp. male terminalia (Diptera, Drosophilidae)

Abstract

A short illustrated biography of Marta Erps Breuer (1902-1977), designer and lab technician at the University of São Paulo (Universidade de São Paulo), and a former Bauhaus student, is presented. Additionally, twenty fine China ink drawings of the male terminalia of twenty species of Neotropical Drosophila, made by her between October 4th, 1951, and March 24th, 1959, and currently deposited in the archives of the Department of Genetics and Evolutionary Biology of the Institute of Biosciences of the University of São Paulo (Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Instituto cle Biociências, Universidade. de São Paulo), São Paulo, State of São Paulo, Brazil, are included. All illustrated species but one are members of one of the following seven groups of the subgenus Drosophila: annulimana, canalinea, cardini, coffeata, dreyfusi, repleta, and tripunctata. Besides being depicted in the same position, the illustrations are so precise that we believe they will be extremely useful for those interested in Drosophila spp. identification. A comprehensive list of her scientific papers is included among the references. © 2006 Sociedade Brasileira de Genética.