Physical Appearance
Wildtype fruit flies have brick red eyes, are yellow-brown in color, and have transverse black rings across their abdomen. They exhibit sexual dimorphism: females are about 2.5 millimeters (0.098 in) long; males are slightly smaller and the back of their bodies is darker. Males are easily distinguished from females based on color differences, with a distinct black patch at the abdomen, less noticeable in recently emerged flies (see fig), and the sexcombs (a row of dark bristles on the tarsus of the first leg). Furthermore, males have a cluster of spiky hairs (claspers) surrounding the reproducing parts used to attach to the female during mating. There are extensive images at FlyBase.
Read more about this topic: Drosophila Melanogaster
Famous quotes containing the words physical and/or appearance:
“The peace loving nations must make a concerted effort in opposition to those violations of treaties and those ignorings of humane instincts which today are creating a state of international anarchy and instability from which there is no escape through mere isolation or neutrality.... When an epidemic of physical disease starts to spread, the community approves and joins in a quarantine of the patients in order to protect the health of the community against the spread of the disease.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)
“Most lovers ... picture to themselves, in their mistresses, a secret reality, beyond and different from what they see every day. They are in love with somebody else—their own invention. And sometimes there is a secret reality; and sometimes reality and appearance are the same. The discovery, in either case, is likely to cause a shock.”
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963)