Fruit fly is any of thousands of kinds of flies whose larvae eat their way through different fruits. Fruit flies include some of the most harmful agricultural pests.
Members of one family of these insects are called peacock flies because of their habit of strutting on fruit. They are small insects with many colors and beautiful wings. They lay their eggs in fruits, berries, nuts, and other parts of plants. Larvae that hatch from the eggs are small white maggots that tunnel their way through the fruit. This family of fruit flies includes the destructive Mediterranean fruit fly, Oriental fruit fly, Mexican fruit fly, the various cherry fruit flies, and the apple maggot. Control methods include applying chemical sprays and introducing the flies’ natural predators—that is, animals that hunt the flies.. Another control technique involves releasing large numbers of sterilized male flies. A female fly that mates with one of the sterilized males cannot produce fertile eggs.
The pomace, or vinegar, flies also are called fruit flies. Their maggots feed chiefly on decaying fruit and on crushed grapes in wineries. Scientists often use one species of pomace fly, Drosophila melanogaster, in heredity studies. This species is especially useful in such studies because the chromosomes (parts of a cell containing hereditary material) of its salivary glands are large. The species also reproduces rapidly.
