Related topics: genes
Tephritidae
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Tephritidae is one of two fly families referred to as "fruit flies". Tephritidae does not include the biological model organisms of the genus Drosophila, which is often called the "common fruit fly". Drosophila is, instead, the type genus of the second "fruit fly" family, Drosophilidae. There are nearly 5,000 described species of tephritid fruit fly, categorized in almost 500 genera. Description, recategorization, and genetic analysis are constantly changing the taxonomy of this family. To distinguish them from the Drosophilidae, the Tephritidae are sometimes called peacock flies.
Tephritid fruit flies are of major importance in agriculture. Some have negative effects, some positive. Various species of fruit fly cause damage to fruit and other plant crops. The genus Bactrocera is of worldwide notoriety for its destructive impact on agriculture. The olive fruit fly (B. oleae), for example, feeds on only one plant: the wild or commercially cultivated olive. It has the capacity to ruin 100% of an olive crop by damaging the fruit. On the other hand, some fruit flies are used as agents of biological control, thereby reducing the populations of pest species. Several species of the fruit fly genus Urophora are questionable in their effectiveness as control agents against rangeland-destroying noxious weeds such as starthistles and knapweeds.
Most fruit flies lay their eggs in plant tissues, where the larvae find their first food upon emerging. The adults usually have a very short lifespan. Some live for less than a week.
Fruit flies use an open circulatory system as their cardiovascular system.
Their behavioral ecology is of great interest to biologists. Some fruit flies have extensive mating rituals or territorial displays. Many are brightly colored and visually showy. Some fruit flies show Batesian mimicry, bearing the colors and markings of dangerous insects such as wasps because it helps the fruit flies to avoid predators; the flies, of course, lack stingers.
For more information about Tephritidae, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with fruit flies
Deciphering the regulatory code: Scientists take new approach to predict gene expression
Nov 04, 2009 |
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Embryonic development is like a well-organised building project, with the embryo's DNA serving as the blueprint from which all construction details are derived. Cells carry out different functions according ...
Drunken fruit flies help scientists find potential drug target for alcoholism
Nov 03, 2009 |
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A group of drunken fruit flies have helped researchers from North Carolina State and Boston universities identify entire networks of genes—also present in humans—that play a key role in alcohol drinking behavior. This discovery, ...
Slimming gene regulates body fat
Nov 02, 2009 |
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Scientists at the University of Bonn, Germany, have discovered a previously unknown fruit fly gene that controls the metabolism of fat. Larvae in which this gene is defective lose their entire fat reserves. Therefore the ...
Circadian surprise: Mechanism of temperature synchronization in drosophila
Oct 28, 2009 |
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New research reveals a pathway that links peripheral sensory tissues with a "clock" in the brain to regulate molecular processes and behaviors in response to cyclical temperature changes. The research, published by Cell Press ...
Researchers discover mechanism that prevents two species from reproducing
Oct 26, 2009 |
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Cornell researchers have discovered a genetic mechanism in fruit flies that prevents two closely related species from reproducing, a finding that offers clues to how species evolve.
Alcohol tolerance 'switch' found
Oct 21, 2009 |
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Researchers at North Carolina State University have found a genetic "switch" in fruit flies that plays an important role in making flies more tolerant to alcohol.
Happy flies look for a place like home
Oct 19, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A happy youth can influence where a fruit fly chooses to live as an adult, according to new research in The American Naturalist. The study, led by Judy Stamps from the University of Califo ...
Fruit fly pest identified in wine grapes
Oct 15, 2009 |
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A newly recognized pest in Oregon continues to concern fruit growers and researchers with the recent discovery of a Spotted Wing Drosophila fly in a sample of Willamette Valley wine grapes.
Absent pheromones turn flies into lusty Lotharios
Oct 14, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- When Professor Joel Levine's team genetically tweaked fruit flies so that they didn't produce certain pheromones, they triggered a sexual tsunami in their University of Toronto Mississauga ...
Why do human populations differ? Fruit fly study aims to provide genetic answers
Oct 13, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Charles Aquadro, professor of molecular biology and genetics, researches how fruit flies provide clues to humans' own genetic footprints of adaptation.
Scientists identify protein that enhances long-term memory by controlling rest intervals
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Oct 01, 2009 |
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As most good students realize, repeated studying produces good memory. Those who study a lot realize, further, that what they learn tends to be preserved longer in memory if they space out learning sessions between rest intervals. ...
Fruit fly sperm makes females do housework after sex
Sep 30, 2009 |
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The sperm of male fruit flies are coated with a chemical 'sex peptide' which inhibits the female's usual afternoon siesta and compels her into an intense period of foraging activity.
Reactive oxygen in fruit flies acts as a cell signalling mechanism for immune response
Sep 24, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- For years, health conscious people have been taking antioxidants to reduce the levels of reactive oxygen in their blood and prevent the DNA damage done by free radicals, which are the result of oxidative ...
New research provides new insight into age-related muscle decline
Sep 22, 2009 |
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If you think the air outside is polluted, a new research report in the September 2009 issue of the journal Genetics might make you to think twice about the air inside our bodies too. That's because researchers show how ab ...
Pesky fruit flies learn from experienced females: Study
Sep 16, 2009 |
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A common household nuisance, the fruit fly, is capable of intricate social learning much like that used by humans, according to new research from McMaster University.
