Drosophila Melanogaster

Drosophila Melanogaster Latest News

Researchers studied the ovaries of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster to investigate the mechanisms that maintain the function of reproductive stem cells over time.

About Drosophila Melanogaster

• It is colloquially known as the fruit fly.
• Habitat: It lives in a wide range of habitats.
• Native habitats include those in the tropical regions of the Old World, but the common fruit fly has been introduced to almost all temperate regions of the world.
• Food Habit: The fruit flies lives primarily on plant material. The adults thrive on rotting plants
• Reproduction: Reproduction in Drosophila is rapid. A single pair of flies can produce hundreds of offspring within a couple of weeks, and the offspring become sexually mature within one week.

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Physical Description of Drosophila Melanogaster

• Drosophila matures through complete metamorphosis.
• It is covered in a chitinous exoskeleton; has three main body segments; and has three pairs of segmented legs.
• They are easily drawn towards the smell of any food source
• Their eyes are sensitive to slight differences in light intensity.
• They are sexually dimorphic (males and females are different), making it is quite easy to differentiate the sexes.
• It remains one of the most commonly used model organisms for biomedical science. 

Source: PIB