Provide insights or learning in the conduct of the study.
Life cycle
Reference Drosophila Resources
Day 0: Female lays eggs
Day 1: Eggs hatch
Day 2: First instar (one day in length)
Day 3: Second instar (one day in length)
Day 5: Third and final instar (two days in length)
Day 7: Larvae begin, roaming stage. Pupariation (pupal formation) occurs 120 hours after egg-laying
Day 11-12: Eclosion (adults emerge from the pupa case).
Females become sexually mature 8-10 hours after eclosion
• The generation time of Drosophila melanogaster varies with temperature. The above cycle is for a temperature of about 22°C (72°F). Flies raised at a lower temperatures (to 18°C, or 64°F) will take about twice as long to develop.
• Females can lay up to 100 eggs/day.
• Virgin females can lay eggs; however, they will be sterile and few.
After the eggs hatch, tiny larvae should be visible in the growing medium. If your media is white, look for the small black area (the mouth hooks) at the head of the larvae. Some dried premixed media is blue to help identify larvae; however this is not a necessity, and with a bit of patience and practice, larvae are easily seen. In addition, as the larvae feed, they disrupt the smooth surface of the media, and so by looking only at the surface, one can tell if larvae are present. However, it is always a good idea to double-check using a stereomicroscope. After the third instar, larvae will begin to migrate up the culture vial to pupate.
