drosophila

American  

[droh-sof-uh-luh, druh-] / droʊˈsɒf ə lə, drə- /

noun

drosophilas, plural drosophilae plural

1. a fly of the genus Drosophila, especially D. melanogaster, used in laboratory studies of genetics and development.

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drosophila British  

/ drɒˈsɒfɪlə /

noun

1. Also called: fruit fly.   vinegar fly.  any small dipterous fly of the genus Drosophila, esp D. melanogaster, a species widely used in laboratory genetics studies: family Drosophilidae. They feed on plant sap, decaying fruit, etc

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drosophila Scientific  

/ drō-sŏf′ə-lə /

1. Any of various small fruit flies of the genus Drosophila, one species of which (D. melanogaster) is used extensively in genetic research to study patterns of inheritance and the functions of genes.

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• drosophilae
  plural
• drosophilas
  plural

Etymology

Origin of drosophila

< New Latin < Greek dróso ( s ) dew + New Latin -phila < Greek -philē, feminine of -philos -phile

Explanation

Drosophila is the scientific name for fruit flies. Those tiny insects that start to hover around your fruit bowl when you let the bananas get too brown? They're probably drosophila. Drosophila, which live just about everywhere on earth, are the tiniest, fastest-breeding fruit flies, also known as "vinegar flies" or "wine flies." As these nicknames imply, drosophila are attracted to rotting or fermenting fruit. Because of their short lifespan and large numbers of offspring, drosophila are frequently used in studies of genetics. The Modern Latin word drosophila, the genus of these particular kinds of flies, means "dew-loving," from Greek roots drosos, "dew," and philos, "loving."

Example Sentences

Levine and her colleagues set out to answer this question by studying fruit flies known as Drosophila melanogaster.

From Science Daily • Jan. 26, 2026

Fruit flies, or Drosophila melanogaster, are often found around our food waste bins as they feed on rotting fruit which gradually produces alcohol.

From BBC • Apr. 2, 2025

By causing epigenetic dysregulation4 in Drosophila, and then restoring the cells to their normal state, scientists have found that part of the genome remains dysfunctional.

From Science Daily • Apr. 24, 2024

The Colombani Andersen lab at the section of Cell & Neurobiology, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen uses the fruit fly, Drosophila, to study the mechanisms that regulate gut plasticity.

From Science Daily • Feb. 26, 2024

One day I was looking through a low-power binocular microscope at a newly arrived batch of adult Drosophila immobilized with a little ether, and was busily separating the different varieties with a camel’s-hair brush.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan