''Drosophila hydei (mosca casera)'' is a species of
Diptera
Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced ...
, or the order of
flies
Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced ...
, in the family
Drosophilidae
The Drosophilidae are a diverse, cosmopolitan family of flies, which includes species called fruit flies, although they are more accurately referred to as vinegar or pomace flies. Another distantly related family of flies, Tephritidae, are true f ...
. It is a species in the ''hydei'' species subgroup, a group in the ''repleta'' species group. Bizarrely, it is also known for having approximately 23 mm long sperm, 10 times the length of the male's body. ''Drosophila hydei'' are commonly found on compost piles worldwide, and can be rudimentarily identified by eye owing to their large size and variegated pigment pattern on the thorax. The name derives from Dr R. R. Hyde, who first discovered that the species was distinct from
Drosophila repleta'. ''D. hydei'' are one of the more popular flies used as feeders in the pet trade. A few varieties are available, some
flightless
Flightless birds are birds that through evolution lost the ability to fly. There are over 60 extant species, including the well known ratites (ostriches, emu, cassowaries, rheas, and kiwi) and penguins. The smallest flightless bird is the ...
. They are very similar to ''Drosophila melanogaster'', despite having separated 50 million years ago.
Wild populations of ''D. hydei'' can be infected with ''
Spiroplasma
''Spiroplasma'' is a genus of Mollicutes, a group of small bacteria without cell walls. ''Spiroplasma'' shares the simple metabolism, parasitic lifestyle, fried-egg colony morphology and small genome of other ''Mollicutes'', but has a distinctive ...
'' bacteria that defend the fly against
parasitoid wasps
Parasitoid wasps are a large group of hymenopteran superfamilies, with all but the wood wasps (Orussoidea) being in the wasp-waisted Apocrita. As parasitoids, they lay their eggs on or in the bodies of other arthropods, sooner or later causi ...
.
Contribution to invertebrate genetics
The Class II "Minos"
transposon
A transposable element (TE, transposon, or jumping gene) is a nucleic acid sequence in DNA that can change its position within a genome, sometimes creating or reversing mutations and altering the cell's genetic identity and genome size. Transpo ...
was identified as a repetitive element in the genome of ''Drosophila hydei''. Minos transgenic tools derived from the element in ''Drosophila hydei'' have been used in an extremely wide variety of invertebrate and arthropod genomes to disrupt genes for study. Minos is a member of the Tc1/mariner family of DNA transposons. In the genetic workhorse ''
Drosophila melanogaster
''Drosophila melanogaster'' is a species of fly (the taxonomic order Diptera) in the family Drosophilidae. The species is often referred to as the fruit fly or lesser fruit fly, or less commonly the "vinegar fly" or "pomace fly". Starting with Ch ...
'', Minos transgenesis has been used to disrupt over 10,000 genes as part of the "Drosophila Gene Disruption Project," allowing the study of their function.
Sperm
Large sperm is a noted phenomenon among Drosophila species,
but Drosophila hydei have the largest recorded sperm at over 20 mm long. This seems to be linked to female flies mating more often. There is a trend that as sperm metabolic rate increases, female mating frequency and sperm length increase.
The DNA required to make this sperm has large introns, genetic material that is removed before the rest is translated into proteins. The genes blanks and heph show strong likelihood of being the regulators of this process.
References
Further reading
*
*
PDF*
PDF
External links
NCBI taxonomy database: ''Drosophila hydei''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3715462
h