Drosophila - A Guide to Species Identification and Use

Drosophila: A Guide to Species Identification and Use
Therese A. Markow & Patrick O'Grady
1st edition
272 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0124730526
ISBN-10: 0124730523

Anyone wishing to tap the research potential of the hundreds of Drosophila species in addition to D.melanogaster will finally have a single comprehensive resource for identifying, rearing and using this diverse group of insects. This is the only group of higher eukaryotes for which the genomes of 12 species have been sequenced.

The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster continues to be one of the greatest sources of information regarding the principles of heredity that apply to all animals, including humans. In reality, however, over a thousand different species of Drosophila exist, each with the potential to make their own unique contributions to the rapidly changing fields of genetics and evolution. This book, by providing basic information on how to identify and breed these other fruit flies, will allow investigators to take advantage, on a large scale, of the valuable qualities of these other Drosophila species and their newly developed genomic resources to address critical scientific questions.

* Provides easy to use keys and illustrations to identify different Drosophila species
* A guide to the life history differences of hundreds of species
* Worldwide distribution maps of hundreds of species
* Complete recipes for different Drosophila diets
* Offers an analysis on how to account for species differences in designing and conducting experiments
* Presents useful ideas of how to collect the many different Drosophila species in the wild



Table of Contents

Preface

Part 1: How to look at flies
Chapter 1 - Phylogenetic relationships of Drosophilidae
Chapter 2 - Morphological characters
Chapter 3 - Key to species

Part 2: How to collect wild flies
Chapter 4 - Collecting Drosophila in the wild
Chapter 5 - Distribution
Chapter 6 - Handling wild-caught specimens

Part 3: How to use living flies
Chapter 7 - Life history variation
Chapter 8 - How to use ecological and life history information to rear flies
Chapter 9 - Dietary considerations
Chapter 10 - Avoiding experimental artifacts: using information about life history and other differences in experimental design
Chapter 11 - Troubleshooting

Part 4: Resources
Chapter 12 - Links to sources for supplies and equipment

Index