The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, as the result of a court settlement, will accept additional public comments though Nov. 3 on its proposal to list 12 native picture-wing flies as endangered species.

The agency had accepted comments in 2001. Under a settlement with the Center for Biological Diversity, the service has until April 17, 2006 to make a final decision on whether to list them as endangered, and until Sept. 15 to determine whether critical habitat must be established for them. If habitat is needed, the agency must complete the process by April 16, 2007.

The picture-wing flies, sometimes called vinegar flies, have evolved in Hawai'i into hundreds and perhaps as many as 1,000 different species, some adapted for very specific environments and some depending on specific plants or groups of plants. Many have exquisite patterns on their wings, which give them their common name, and they have unique courtship rituals.

Because many picture-wing flies are linked to very specific habitats and plants, their existence is threatened when their habitats or host plants are threatened, and some of the picture-wings depend on species of plants that are now themselves endangered.

The species proposed for endangered status, each of them found on only a single island, include the Drosophila aglaia, Drosophila differens, Drosophila hemipeza, Drosophila heteroneura, Drosophila montgomeryi, Drosophila mulli, Drosophila musaphiliia, Drosophila neoclavisetae, Drosophila obatai, Drosophila ochrobasis, Drosophila substenoptera and Drosophila tarphytrichia. Six species are from O'ahu, three from the Big Island and one each from Kaua'i, Moloka'i and Maui.

Comments on the proposed listing may be sent to Patrick Leonard, Field Supervisor, Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 300 Ala Moana, Room 3-122, P.O. Box 50088, Honolulu, HI 96850.