vinegar fly

American  

noun

1. any fly of the family Drosophilidae, the larvae of which feed on decaying fruit and vegetation.

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vinegar fly British  

noun

1. any of various dipterous flies of the genus Drosophila See drosophila

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Etymology

Origin of vinegar fly

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

The migratory locust is not a model organism like the vinegar fly Drosophila melanogaster.

From Science Daily

And in 2015 researchers at the University of California, San Diego, created a lab-based gene drive in the innocuous vinegar flies Drosophila that simply made all the flies’ eyes turn yellow.

From Scientific American

Or rather, the fly: Drosophila melanogaster, commonly known as the fruit fly, although Dr. McAlister points out it actually belongs to a group called the vinegar flies.

From New York Times

The little flies that frequently appear near unrefrigerated produce in your kitchen are probably fruit flies, which are sometimes called vinegar flies.

From Time

The spotted wing drosophila is a vinegar fly from Asia that is sometimes inaccurately referred to as a fruit fly.

From Washington Times