The vinegar fly (Drosophila melanogaster) is the most common species of insect belonging to the fruit fly family (picture left: a male). These are the most important and most frequently used laboratory animals in hereditary research. The insect is a major pest in agriculture. It mainly attacks fermenting fruit and fruit of all kinds and lays its eggs there. Rapid reproduction can cause great damage (see picture on the right for the damage to grapes).
A female lays 15 to 25 eggs per day and 500 to almost 1,000 eggs during her lifetime, which develop into larvae within 24 hours. These live on yeasts and bacteria. Within two weeks (in warm climates in just eight days) a generation (from egg to egg) with three larval stages is passed through. They overwinter as pupae. On the vine, the flies can transfer harmful microorganisms such as acetobacter (acetic acid bacteria) to damaged berries, causing...
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