Fruit Flies Like a Banana Quiz | Invertebrates

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Fruit flies are members of the Insecta class of the animal kingdom. How many wings do insects have? Choose the answer that best describes insects in general.

Answer: The number can vary

One of the things defining an insect is the number of legs (six, or three pairs). The number of wings can vary: fruit flies normally have two (one pair); butterflies have four (two pairs); fleas have none.

2. The taxonomic (scientific name) for the common fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, has what meaning?

Answer: dew-loving dark gut

Most scientific names for organisms are derived from Latin, Greek, or a mixture of both.

"Drosophila" means "dew-loving" (Greek "drosos"=dew; Latin "phila"=loving. Think of the place name "PHILAdelphia", plant "PHILOdendron", or word "PHILOsophy").

"Melanogaster" means "dark gut" or "dark stomach" ("melano"=dark; "gaster"=stomach or gut. Think of the words "melanoma" and "gastric").

3. The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster normally has two wings; thus, which order of insects does it belong to?

Answer: Diptera

Diptera correctly defines insects with two wings ("di"=two; "ptera"=wings).

Aptera defines insects with no wings (the prefix "a" means "no" or "without" in this context), such as fleas.

Lepidoptera defines butterflies and moths ("lepido"=scale).

Pteradactyla was an order of flying dinosaurs ("ptera"=wing; "dactyl"=finger).

4. Fruit flies are often used for experiments in genetics. Which of these is not one of the reasons for this?

Answer: They have signed a consent form in triplicate

Of course, our personal opinions of the ethics of experimentation on other creatures may vary considerably; however, the fruit fly does provide a relatively straightforward model for genetic studies, the principles of which can be applied to human genetics.

Fruit flies are easy to maintain and breed, and there are distinctive differences between male and female. Their life-cycle is short - about ten to twelve days - so many generations can be bred over the course of a study. They have only four pairs of large chromosomes, which makes mapping the genes less time-consuming than for larger and more complex animals (for example, humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes).

They also have distinctive genetic variations (mutations) which produce characteristics that are easy to tell from the basic type.

5. Which of these genetic variations (mutations) is found in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster?

Answer: Orange eyes

Red is the usual eye colour in Drosophila melanogaster. Common eye variations are orange colour, white colour, and eyeless.

There are many other variations, including wing size, wing shape, body colour and head shape.

As far as I am aware, there is no documented evidence of flies with superpowers such as X-ray vision, evolutionary advancement such as teeth, nor of refusing a lovely ripe banana - but please let me know if I'm wrong!

6. Which scientist studied Drosophila melanogaster in the early 20th century and realised the insect's potential importance in genetic research?

Answer: Thomas Hunt Morgan

In 1933 Thomas Hunt Morgan (1866-1945) was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology/Medicine for his work on chromosomes in heredity. He helped to establish that genes are located on the chromosomes, and mainly used Drosophila melanogaster as the subject of his studies.

Albert Einstein (1879-1955) was famous for his special and general theories of relativity.

Lazzaro Spallanzani (1729-1799) was an Italian priest and scientist who made many interesting observations and discoveries. Amongst others, he showed that natural chemicals inside the body were responsible for digesting food, and made the first known observations of white blood cells.

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723) was a Dutch textile merchant with an interest in science; he recorded the first observations of bacteria in water, and is widely regarded as one of the fathers of microbiology.

7. By which of these names is the fruit fly also known?

Answer: All of these names

I have observed fruit flies attracted to vinegar, and also drowned in a glass of beer or wine (what a way to go).

Pomace is the apple pulp used in cider-making.

8. What part of the world is thought to be the origin of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster?

Answer: Africa

Drosophila melanogaster is thought to have originated in the forests of Africa. There are eight known sister-species (distinct species with very close similarities) of Drosophila in Africa.

This information comes from Andreas Keller's informative 2007 essay entitled "Drosophila melanogaster's history as a human commensal."

9. Humans taste their food using the tongue, assisted by sense of smell; the fruit fly not only uses the equivalent of the tongue (labial palps), but also other parts of its body. Which parts does it use?

Answer: legs, wing margins and pharynx

The fruit fly has tiny sensory bristles on its legs and the front margins of its wings. Food scent molecules carried in the air enter the bristles and trigger a behavioural response in the fly.

It is thought (but not proven) that the sensors in the pharynx (throat) may be for detecting food palatability, possibly triggering a regurgitation response (blech!) if the food does not taste right.

This information is from a Review Article in Current Biology, volume 15, issue 17, 6 September 2005, pages R673-R684, entitled "Gustatory Perception in Drosophila melanogaster", authors Hubert Amrein and Natasha Thorne.

10. The name "fruit fly" is a description of the environment we usually find these little creatures inhabiting. It is well-known that fruit flies like a banana (especially an overripe one). There are other types of fly, many of which like different things: for example, time flies like...

Answer: an arrow

Pardon the pun, but I couldn't resist including this one!

A play on words, usually found in the form: "Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana".

I hope that you now know something about Drosophila that you didn't know before you started. Their presence may be irritating, but please remember to reward them for their contribution to our knowledge!

Source: Author Mistigris

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor crisw before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Fruit Flies Like a Banana Trivia Quiz

The humble fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, is a fascinating little creature beloved by students of genetics and hated by wine drinkers. See what you know - not all of these questions need specialised knowledge!

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