Life cycle
Since about 100 years Drosophila is now used as a model organism in genetic analyses. In fact much of our current knowledge on genes, development and genetic interactions originates from work with this system. One reason to choose Drosophila is its short life cycle.

At room temperature – which for unknown reason corresponds to 25°C – generation time is about 10 days:
1 day embryogenesis
1 day first instar larvae
1 day second instar larvae
2-3 days third instar larvae
5 days pupal stage

At 18°C development is about half as fast and generation time is about 20 days. But keep in mind that only healthy stocks will tolerate low temperature.

Once a fly has eclosed from the pupal case a few hours pass before they become fertile.




Media list
Life cycle
Life cycle animation