Drosophilidae

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iDrosophilidae

Image:Drosophila melanogaster - side (aka).jpg

Drosophila melanogaster

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Diptera
Superfamily:	Ephydroidea
Family:	Drosophilidae

Subfamily

Drosophilinae
Steganinae

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Drosophilidae

Drosophilidae (Order: Diptera) is a diverse, cosmopolitan family of flies, including the genus Drosophila, which includes fruit flies, vinegar flies, wine flies, pomace flies, grape flies, and picked fruit-flies. The best known species is Drosophila melanogaster that is used extensively for studies concerning genetics, development, physiology, ecology, behaviour, etc. The fruit fly is mostly composed of post-mitotic cells, has a very short lifespan, and shows gradual ageing. Like in other species, temperature influences the life history of the animal. Several genes have been identified whose manipulation extends the lifespan of these animals.

These flies may have several shades of color, including white eyes and black skin.

1 Diagnosis
2 Phylogeny
3 Picture Gallery
4 External link

[edit] Diagnosis

A recent version of the diagnostic characteristics can be found in "Drosophila: A Laboratory Handbook" by M. Ashburner, K. Golic, S. Hawley, (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 2005) (not reproduced here due to copyrights).

[edit] Phylogeny

The knowledge of the phylogeny of this family is incomplete. The family is subdivided in two subfamilies, the Drosophilinae and the Steganinae. The two subfamilies do not contain a single morphological character that distinguishes them. However, the combination of characterists is sufficient to assign species correctly to the subfamilies.

Most molecular phylogeny studies focus on the genus Drosophila and related genera. Currently, there is no overview of the more than 100 articles using molecular techniques to reconstruct the phylogeny.