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fruit fly
(redirected from Fruit flies)

   Also found in: Encyclopedia, Wikipedia 0.03 sec.
fruit fly
n.
1. Any of various small flies of the family Drosophilidae, having larvae that feed on ripening or fermenting fruits and vegetables, especially the common species Drosophila melanogaster often used in genetic research. Also called pomace fly, vinegar fly.
2. Any of various flies of the family Tephritidae, having larvae that hatch in and damage plant tissue.

fruit fly
Noun
1. a small fly that feeds on and lays its eggs in plant tissues
2. a similar fly that feeds on plant sap, decaying fruit, etc., and is widely used in genetic experiments
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.fruit flyfruit fly - any of numerous small insects whose larvae feed on fruits
dipteran, dipteron, dipterous insect, two-winged insects - insects having usually a single pair of functional wings (anterior pair) with the posterior pair reduced to small knobbed structures and mouth parts adapted for sucking or lapping or piercing
apple maggot, railroad worm, Rhagoletis pomonella - larvae bore into and feed on apples
Ceratitis capitata, medfly, Mediterranean fruit fly - small black-and-white fly that damages citrus and other fruits by implanting eggs that hatch inside the fruit
drosophila, Drosophila melanogaster - small fruit fly used by Thomas Hunt Morgan in studying basic mechanisms of inheritance
vinegar fly - flies whose larvae feed on pickles and imperfectly sealed preserves
Translations
fruit fly nmosca de la fruta
fruit fly nmouche f du vinaigre, drosophile f
fruit fly nFruchtfliege f
fruit fly nmosca della frutta


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Other scientists have more recently reported that the genetic makeup of organisms ranging from fruit flies to birds might also be responding to climate trends.
Written by Tom Turpin (Professor of Entomology in Purdue's College of Agriculture), Flies in the Face of Fashion, Mites Make Right, and Other Bugdacious Tales is jam-packed with fun facts about insects--from the bug that ancient Egyptians used to worship as a god to how horseflies can fly without a head to the inordinate contribution that humble fruit flies have made to science.
``The work we're doing involves mutant Drosophila -- fruit flies.
 
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