Origin of Fruitflies

[Chris Jones & Deirdre Sumpter]

In article <35EA230A.7F187070 at erols.com>, M Mehrespand <mmehres at erols.com>
wrote:

> If you leave a piece of fruit on a table, from where does the first
> fruitfly come?  Are there eggs on each piece of fruit that hatch as the
> fruit ripens?

The first one comes from an egg. Now, as to where the *egg* comes from,
they probably come in with your fruit (some grocery stores and fruit
stands are teeming with Drosophila, and no surprise; check out a brewery
or vineyard if you have one nearby!), but at least in summer, it's also
possible that a gravid female flew in from outdoors and decided to
propagate there.

If you want to test it, try sealing some pieces of fly-prone fruit in
Tupperware as soon as you bring them home (but give the putative larvae
some access to air). Not that I would, myself, but it depends on how
determined you or your roommate are to settle the question.

Chris Jones

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