What is Drosophila melanogaster?
{{italictitle}} {{Taxobox | name = ''Drosophila melanogaster'' | image = Drosophila melanogaster - side (aka).jpg | image_width = 250px | image_caption = Male ''Drosophila melanogaster'' | regnum = [[Animal]]ia | phylum = [[Arthropod]]a | subphylum = [[Hexapoda]] | classis = [[Insect]]a | ordo = [[Diptera]] | familia = [[Drosophilidae]] | genus = ''[[Drosophila]]'' | binomial = ''Drosophila melongaster''}} '''''Drosophila melanogaster''''' is a small, common [[fly]] found near rotting [[fruit]]. It has been in use for over a century to study [[genetics]] and lends itself well to behavioral studies. == History == [[Thomas Hunt Morgan]] studied ''Drosophila'' early in the 1900s.<ref>Allen, Garland E. 1978. ''Thomas Hunt Morgan: the man and his science''. Princeton University Press.</ref> He and his team were the first to discover sex-linkage and [[Crossing over|genetic recombination]], which placed the small fly in the forefront of genetic research.<ref>Kohler, Robert E. 1994. ''Lords of the fly: Drosophila genetics and the experimental life''. Chicago University Press. {{ISBN|0-226-45063-5}}</ref> Due to its small size, ease of culture and short generation time, geneticists have been using ''Drosophila'' ever since. It is one of the organisms whose entire [[genome]] is known, and many hundreds of genes have been identified and studied. == Life == Fruit flies are easily obtained from the wild and most biological [[science]] companies carry a variety of different [[mutation]]s. In addition these companies sell equipment to culture the flies. Costs are relatively low and most equipment can be used year after year. == Behaviour == === Vision === The fly's [[vision]] is its most important [[sense organ]]. Approximately two thirds of the ''Drosophila'' brain is dedicated to visual processing.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Drosophila standard brain |author=Rein K; Zockler M; Mader M.T; Grubel C; and Heisenberg M. |journal=Current Biology |volume=12 |pages=227–231 |year=2002 |doi=10.1016/S0960-9822(02)00656-5 |pmid=1