Hardy (1965) described Drosophila hemipeza from specimens recorded at Pupukea, Oahu, in 1952. The thorax of D. hemipeza is predominantly yellow with two brown stripes on the top, and the legs are entirely yellow. This species is 0.2 in (5.0 mm) long; the front legs are very slender with short straight bristles; and the wings are 0.2 in (6.0 mm) in length, slender, and somewhat pointed. The picture-wing group is divided into four major subgroups based on maps of chromosomal inversions. Drosophila hemipeza is in the plantitibia subgroup (Edwards et al., 2007).