Abstract: We report the identification and characterization of two genes from Drosophila melanogaster that encode novel ionotropic glutamate receptor proteins, named DGluR‐IB and DNMDAR‐II, and that are located on chromosome 3L, region 67AB, and the X chromosome, position 2B, respectively. The DGluR‐IB full‐length cDNA was isolated from Drosophila embryonic and head libraries. The encoded protein of 1,095 amino acids displays high sequence identity (73%) to DGluR‐IA. The DNMDAR‐II gene was identified by sequence‐homology searches in databases. The deduced protein shows moderate sequence identity (29‐31%) to the mouse NMDAR2A‐D receptor subunits. Whole‐mount in situ hybridization on embryos revealed DGluR‐IB and DNMDAR‐II transcripts in the CNS. Immunofluorescence analysis of the adult fly brain indicates that the DGluR‐IB protein is expressed in neurons implicated in the regulation of the circadian clock.