this post was submitted on 17 Oct 2024
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Science Memes

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 46 minutes ago

Oh yeah, that brings up memories. We had to do the same experiments in genetics lab, too. I'll never forget the smell of fruit flies :/

[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

Reminds me of the old joke, what do you call a fly with no wings?

A walk.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 hours ago

Where my cheeky FlyNap sniffers at?

[–] [email protected] 13 points 3 hours ago

time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago) (1 children)

They’re called fruit flies because they gather around rotting fruit.

But there are also “true fruit flies” which do eat fruit.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 hours ago

They're generally called vinegar flies, and they don't infest fresh fruit like fruit flies do when they lay their eggs in fruit.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 10 hours ago (5 children)

Are horseflies a lie because they don't eat horses?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 hours ago

You're right. They only drink horse (and cattle) blood.

Horse or cow vampire fly is a little long winded for a name.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 hours ago

Ok let me introduce you to the barn owl

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 hours ago

But they do? Along with any other animal that happens to be nearby.

That is the one insect I will go out of my way to kill.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 9 hours ago (2 children)

Without a lie they'd just be horsefs

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

Came up with that yoursef, did you?

...Jousef

[–] [email protected] 14 points 9 hours ago
[–] [email protected] 22 points 10 hours ago

No it's because they take a horse sized chunk out of you when they bite you

[–] [email protected] 26 points 10 hours ago

You already know what you call a fly with no wings

A walk

[–] [email protected] 11 points 11 hours ago (3 children)

Can somebody explain the fruit thing? I've seen fruit flies demolish fresh fruit. The amount of yeast biomass on them must be negligible at that point. Do the eggs/larvae spread the yeast before they start eating?

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago) (1 children)

There's even the old Marx brothers joke "time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana"

The fruit fly trap taught to me by an entomologist friend is baited with wine, suggesting the fruit flies want fermenting fruit

The trap: get a plastic fizzy drink bottle; bigger is better

Cut off the top. The cut piece is a cone

Place the cone (the top piece) upside down on the rest of the bottle

Sticky tape the joint

Bait with cheap wine or leftover wine or beer. The bait is poured down the funnel into the trap

Her tastes were revealed in the description of baiting the trap — she specified red wine, but I have tested with various booze and fruit flies have no taste, they'll go for anything. You could probably extract bait from the sourdough starter you made in lockdown and kept alive despite never making bread after that first try

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

Doesn't even have to be actual booze. Apple cider vinegar + a drop of dawn dish soap works a treat.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 hours ago

I guess not everyone has easy access to booze

[–] [email protected] 12 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago)

The fruit flies you've seen eating fresh fruit are probably Drosophila suzukii (spotted wing fruit fly). Most (all?) other Drosophila species (including the model organism Drosophila melanogaster) only feed on rotting fruit. Though they'll consume the sugars too, not just the microorganisms. So standard lab diets include sugar along with yeast and often cornmeal.

There are also some more distantly related flies that feed on fresh fruit and are commonly called fruit flies, eg Ceratitis capitata (Mediterranean fruit fly)

[–] [email protected] 8 points 10 hours ago

I’m sure the meme is apocryphal, and it’s not entirely correct. Fruit flies do eat yeast, yes…but they also eat the sugars in the fermenting fruit, not just the microorganisms causing fruit decay. I don’t know about the larvae at all, though.

[–] [email protected] 41 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

I wish I had the time and money to create crimes against nature.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 hours ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 hours ago

It's not like they built the car, though.

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