• What is Drosophila
Melanogaster?
•
How do they live and mate?
•
What was my experiment?
•
Results and conclusions.

Also known as the fruit fly, pomace flies or vinegar flies.
Life cycle fertilization laying of the egg
Hatching of larvae
Larva growth
(instars)
Pupation
Adult

One of the most valuable organisms in biological research.
-Genetics and developmental biology
Why work on Drosophila?
Practical as well as historical.
Keeping Drosophila in the lab.
-media preparation
-examining the flies

Is there an order to fertilization of the egg within the female?*
-Path of sperm after fertilization
-Multiple mates
-Which male is more likely to fertilize the egg?
-Shuttle system proposal
*refer to handout

Procedure:
Mate female with male #1 then with male #2
Remove males and study the offspring
But how do you tell the difference?*
Red eyed (wild type) and White eyed phenotypes*
*see board

Taking a look at the graphs sums of all of the progeny from both crosses
Cross A: White females X White males then X Red Males
Cross B: White females X Red Males then
X White males

• Arnold SJ. (1994). Multivariate inheritance and evolution: A review of concepts. In:Boake,
C.R.B(ed.) Quantative Genetic Studies of
Behavioral Evolution, pp. 17-49. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL.
• Pitnick S, Markow TA, Spicer GS. (1999).
Evolution of multiple kinds of female sperm storage organs in Drosophila. Evolution, 53:
1804-1882.