Southern blot analysis of 134 species of the genus Drosophila shows that hobo sequences are limited to the melanogaster and montium subgroups of the melanogaster-species group. Of the hobo-bearing species, only D.melanogaster, D.simulans and D.mauritiana contain potentially complete hobos, while D.sechellia contains sequences that probably represent internally deleted hobos.

hobos found in the genome are full length, functionally complete hobos, and internally deleted, defective hobos that rely on complete hobos for their mobilization.