LIBRARY

DIPTERA 793
Family DROSOPHILIDJE Loew 1862 (Dro'so-phil'i-dre. from the Greek
opbuos, dew, + r/nAfLlJ, to love). German, Taufiiegen. Vinegar Flies.
Small, mostly pale-yellowish or tawny flies, many of which are attracted
to decaying and fermenting vegetable materials including fruits. The members
constitute a small family of widely distributed species. The most important
FIG. 296. The koo-tsabe fly, EpllydT(J }dans Say. a species thai breeds in saline lakes in
California and the pupre of which are used for food by the aborigines. (From A History oj
entom%gy.)
species in the family and one of the most famous and best known insects is
the vinegar or pomace fly, Drosophila melanogaster Meigen, yellowish, 3 rom.
long, which has been used so extensively by geneticists in the laboratory studies
of inheritance, especially in reference to the gene theory. The larvre are easily
and quickly reared on fermenting bananas and other fruits which makes this
species particularly well adapted for life history studies in entomology. This
fly was first suggested as an experimental laboratory animal by C. W. Woodworth,
University of California in 1900-01. (C. B. Davenport, Science a8: