---
title: "What the sources say about the Fruit Fly | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "46 claims from the Fruit Fly profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
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# What the sources say about the Fruit Fly (*Drosophila melanogaster*)

> 46 claims from the Fruit Fly profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Fruit Fly](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/fruit-fly/)

## Drosophila melanogaster. Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Drosophila_melanogaster/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| A 3-millimetre fly | only about 3 mm in length (note: tagline) |
| Rotting fruit and other decaying plants | The adults thrive on rotting plants, and fruits (note: stats.diet; ADW page last updated 2000, used for the adult food only) |
| Not Evaluated | IUCN Red List No special status (note: stats.conservationStatus. The prefetch found no Red List assessment DOI and GBIF's copy of the Red List holds no category for Drosophila melanogaster (Crossref searches under synonyms returned HTTP 429). ADW lists no special IUCN status. No IUCN reference is cited.) |
| The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is about 3 mm long and 2 mm wide. | The common fruit fly is normally a yellow brown (tan) color, and is only about 3 mm in length and 2 mm in width (note: ADW page last updated 2000; size is stable) |
| The female is slightly larger than the male. | The female is slightly larger than the male |
| It is normally yellow-brown, with large red compound eyes | normally a yellow brown (tan) color ... large, red, compound eyes |
| black stripes on its abdomen | There are black stripes on the dorsal surface of its abdomen |
| Like other flies, it has a single pair of wings. | Like other flies, Drosophila melanogaster has a single pair of wings |
| Where a second pair would sit, it has knobby balancing organs called halteres. | Out of the last segment of its throax (which in other insects contains a second pair of wings) develops a set rudimentry wings that act as knobby balancing organs. These balancing organs are called halteres. |

## Markow (2015). The secret lives of Drosophila flies. eLife.

https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.06793

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| that lives on rotting fruit | A human commensal associated primarily with rotting fruits (note: tagline) |
| has been central to major breakthroughs in genetics | Drosophila melanogaster has been central to major breakthroughs in genetics (note: tagline) |
| Worldwide, around rotting fruit and other decaying plant matter | Its current distribution is worldwide ... A human commensal associated primarily with rotting fruits, D. melanogaster is also associated with a wide array of decaying vegetables and other plant matter (note: stats.habitat) |
| plus some of the microbes in them | Some microbes in the decaying material themselves provide food for D. melanogaster , being selectively consumed by larvae or adults (note: stats.diet) |
| Has counterparts to an estimated 65% of human disease genes | Approximately 65% of human disease genes are estimated to have counterparts in D. melanogaster (note: stats.superpower) |
| Few studies have been done in the wild, but those that have show wild flies tend to be larger than lab-reared ones. | Few studies of D. melanogaster have been done in the wild, but those that have reveal a different picture of wild flies. For one thing, they tend to be larger than laboratory reared flies |
| The species appears to have originated in sub-Saharan Africa. | appears to have originated in sub-Saharan Africa |
| It is thought to have spread to Europe and Asia 10,000 to 15,000 years ago | is thought to have occurred between 10,000 and 15,000 years ago, when it moved to Europe and Asia |
| its range is now worldwide | Its current distribution is worldwide |
| It is a human commensal, a fly that lives alongside people, mostly around rotting fruit. | A human commensal associated primarily with rotting fruits (note: 'which means it lives alongside people' is the writer's gloss of commensal) |
| Females lay their eggs in necrotic material, meaning dead and rotting matter, and the larvae (the maggot stage) develop and pupate there. | Females lay their eggs in necrotic material, and the larvae develop and pupate there. (note: maggot stage: ADW says larvae are maggots) |
| Two life stages are completely immobile: the egg and the pupa. | Two life stages are completely immobile: the egg and the pupa. |
| In the wild, larvae and flies are exposed to predators such as ants, beetles, pseudoscorpions and lizards. | In the wild, larvae and flies are also exposed to predators, such as ants, beetles, pseudoscorpions and lizards |
| Some of the microbes in its rotting food are food for the fly, and larvae or adults eat them selectively. | Some microbes in the decaying material themselves provide food for D. melanogaster , being selectively consumed by larvae or adults |
| Of the fly species that share a rotting fruit, its close relative Drosophila simulans arrives first, then D. melanogaster. | First to arrive is D. simulans, followed by D. melanogaster, and then the other species |
| That order is consistent with D. melanogaster tolerating more ethanol (alcohol) than D. simulans does. | this is consistent with D. melanogaster having a higher ethanol tolerance than its relative D. simulans |
| From its first use in the laboratory in the early 1900s until now, this fly has been central to major breakthroughs in genetics. | From its first use in the laboratory in the early 1900s until the present day, Drosophila melanogaster has been central to major breakthroughs in genetics. |
| Thomas Hunt Morgan won the 1933 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries about the role of the chromosome in heredity. | Thomas Hunt Morgan, who was awarded the 1933 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for ‘his discoveries concerning the role played by the chromosome in hereditary’ |
| Morgan's former student Herman J Muller later won the prize in 1946 for discovering that X-rays cause mutations. | Morgan's former student, Herman J Muller, subsequently received the prize in 1946 ‘for the discovery of the production of mutations by means of X-ray irradiation’ |
| The fly has played an increasingly important role in creating animal models of human disease. | D. melanogaster has played an increasingly important role in the creation of animal models of human disease |
| Approximately 65% of human disease genes are estimated to have counterparts in it. | Approximately 65% of human disease genes are estimated to have counterparts in D. melanogaster |
| Probably sub-Saharan Africa, according to an eLife review. | appears to have originated in sub-Saharan Africa (note: 'Probably' carries the source's 'appears to') |
| North America and Australia were colonized more recently. | North America and Australia were colonized more recently (note: 'than Europe and Asia' follows the 10,000-15,000 year Europe/Asia move in the preceding sentence) |
| In the lab, flies tend to be reared at a constant temperature and humidity | In the laboratory, flies tend to be reared at a constant temperature and humidity level, while these abiotic variables fluctuate in nature. |
| the fungal, bacterial and viral pathogens they meet in nature are absent | The fungal, bacterial and viral pathogens ( Magwire et al., 2012 ; Keebaugh and Schlenke, 2014 ) flies encounter in nature are absent in the laboratory. |
| In the wild, those conditions fluctuate | while these abiotic variables fluctuate in nature |
| and the flies also face parasites such as wasps and phoretic mites. | as well as to parasites, such as wasps and phoretic mites |
| An eLife review calls the species an ecological generalist, and says that helped it be propagated in the lab. | The fact that this fly is an ecological generalist no doubt contributed to the facility with which it was initially propagated in the laboratory |
| The first person known to rear it probably also liked its short generation time and ease of rearing. | Harvard entomologist Charles Woodworth was the first to rear D. melanogaster , just after the turn of the 20th century . It is not clear why or how he came to breed them, but their short generation time and ease of rearing were probably very appealing attributes. |
| Its first move out of Africa is thought to have taken it to Europe and Asia | The first out-of-Africa habitat expansion of D. melanogaster is thought to have occurred between 10,000 and 15,000 years ago, when it moved to Europe and Asia |
| Labs have used this fly since the early 1900s | From its first use in the laboratory in the early 1900s (note: vibe.reason) |
| its short generation time was probably part of the appeal | It is not clear why or how he came to breed them, but their short generation time and ease of rearing were probably very appealing attributes (note: vibe.reason) |

## Adams et al. (2000). The Genome Sequence of Drosophila melanogaster. Science.

https://doi.org/10.1126/science.287.5461.2185

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| The first full read of the fly's genome, published in 2000, counted approximately 13,600 genes. | The genome encodes approximately 13,600 genes (note: Year is the paper's own (Adams et al. 2000, Science), which announced the sequence as substantially complete; the count is scoped to that 2000 annotation) |

## Metaxakis & Partridge (2013). Dietary Restriction Extends Lifespan in Wild-Derived Populations of Drosophila melanogaster. PLoS ONE.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0074681

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| In one lab study, females | we measured the lifespan and fecundity of 100 female flies |
| of a lab-adapted strain | a laboratory-adapted, white Dahomey strain |
| had a median lifespan of 69 days on whichever of five diets kept them alive longest. | w Dah 21 28 67 78 69 79 60 70 55 66 (note: Table 2 columns are median and maximum lifespan in days at yeast concentrations 0.1, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0: w Dah median 21, 67, 69, 60, 55. 69 days (1.0 yeast) is the highest median for the strain. Scoped to lab females.) |
| on whichever of five diets kept them alive longest | A yeast concentration range of 0.1 to 2.0 captured the DR response of all strains (note: Five yeast concentrations (0.1, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0); w Dah medians 21, 67, 69, 60, 55, so 69 is the longest) |