Definition of fruit fly in English:

noun

• A small fly which feeds on fruit in both its adult and larval stages.

  Families Drosophilidae and Tephritidae: many genera. See also drosophila

  Example sentences

  • ‘This finding, say the researchers, indicates that inertia, and not friction, is the greater force for the fruit fly to overcome in the turn.’
  • ‘Normally, the black cherry fruit fly will emerge 10 days to two weeks earlier than the cherry fruit fly.’
  • ‘Increased levels of PKG have completely opposite effects in C. elegans compared to the fruit fly or honey bee.’
  • ‘To elucidate the cellular functions of NSF, we have chosen to use a genetic approach in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster.’
  • ‘The first mutations of a single gene affecting the daily locomotion rhythm were found in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster.’
  • ‘The reproductive system of the female fruit fly, as in humans, contains a reservoir of adult stem cells.’
  • ‘We found that mutations in small bristles affect several tissues during the development of the fruit fly.’
  • ‘Morgan wanted to draw firm conclusions based on quantitative and analytical data and so set out to test their theories using the fruit fly as his subject.’
  • ‘In the fruit fly, there is a well-studied system that prevents transmission of one particular genotype to the next generation in appropriate genetic backgrounds.’
  • ‘Hox genes were discovered through the study of the fruit fly.’
  • ‘The reproductive potential of fruit flies is enormous; given the opportunity, they will lay about 500 eggs.’
  • ‘In fact so similar is this gene, that pieces of the mammalian gene, when spliced into a fruit fly, will cause a wing to appear on the fly.’
  • ‘It's been more than 20 years since researchers first genetically engineered an insect, the laboratory fruit fly.’
  • ‘The fruit fly is among the most studied organisms in the world, because its genes can be easily examined and manipulated to simulate human genetics.’
  • ‘When a fruit fly begins to mature from a juvenile larva into an adult, it is known as a pupa, like the one on the left.’
  • ‘Previous evidence suggested that fruit flies and humans rely on the same genes to develop their auditory organs, which in the fruit fly is in the antenna.’
  • ‘If you turn it on artificially in a fruit fly, in the antenna of the fruit fly, then the fruit fly will grow an eye in its antenna.’
  • ‘The researchers plan to identify genes that have helped the fruit flies adapt to these harsh conditions.’
  • ‘Wormy fruit is the work of the currant fruit fly.’
  • ‘The study, which paves the way for a new era of bee research, marks the third insect genome to be sequenced, after the fruit fly and the mosquito.’