📸 PhotoPhoto: André Karwath aka Aka · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Common fruit fly
Drosophila melanogaster (Common fruit fly · キイロショウジョウバエ)
Not Evaluated (NE) on the IUCN Red List yet.
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Its body length of 3 mm is about one-sixth the diameter of a Korean 10-won coin (18 mm) (Comparison).
- 💡 It tracks food by smell to gather on rotting fruit and is widely used in scientific research (Animal Diversity Web).
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
📖 1. Overview
The common fruit fly is a small fly about 3 mm long that gathers around rotting fruit and is one of the animals most widely used in scientific research.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Its body is yellowish-brown, and its round head bears large red compound eyes and 3 small simple eyes. Its mouthparts are adapted for sopping up liquids.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
When eggs are laid on unripe fruit, the larvae hatch just as the fruit begins to rot and feed on it. A single pair can produce hundreds of offspring within about 2 weeks, and the offspring reach adulthood in a week.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
It is listed as 'No-rang-cho-pa-ri' (Korean name) on the National List of Species of Korea.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List: not evaluated (NE) — cross-checked with the Wikidata conservation-status entry
- • catalogueoflife.org — 8BXCZ
- • 국가생물종목록(국립생물자원관) ktsn 120000021974 — https://species.nibr.go.kr/home/mainHome.do?cont_link=009&subMenu=009002&contCd=009002&ktsn=120000021974
- • wikidata.org — Q130888
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Drosophila melanogaster - side (aka).jpg
- • animaldiversity.org — Drosophila melanogaster
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Jonathan Wells · CC0 1.0
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.