• Contents

About the Film

The common fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, one of the most-studied organisms in biology, is examined in this forty-minute, color film of the many stages of the living animal. The film demonstrates the intricacies and fascination of the Drosophila life cycle including details such as dissections, histological sections and a gallery of mutants used in research.

The film is meant to serve as an educational tool at many levels. As an introduction to the life cycle and to mutants, it can be used at the high-school and introductory undergraduate levels to acquaint students with an organism they can use in the classroom. At more advanced undergraduate levels in courses in developmental biology and genetics, it can help students in the techniques used to examine the organism in detail. In addition to learning the specifics of embryonic development, larval stages and metamorphosis, for example, students will see how to sex larvae and adults, to dissect larval tissues such as salivary glands and imaginal discs, and to dissect pupae from their pupal cases. For graduate students beginning their research on Drosophila, it will serve as a guide to many of the aspects of development, growth, and metamorphosis they will need to know.

1. Life Cycle (Summary)

Mary S. Tyler, University of Maine

2. The Adult or Imago

Mary S. Tyler, University of Maine

3. Courtship

John M. Ringo and Mary S. Tyler, University of Maine

4. The Male's Love Song

Becky Talyn, Harold B. Dowse, and Mary S. Tyler, University of Maine

5. Mating

John M. Ringo and Mary S. Tyler, University of Maine

6. Egg Laying

Mary S. Tyler, University of Maine

7. The Gametes: Eggs and Sperm

Mary S. Tyler, University of Maine

8. Embryonic Development

Rachel Fink, Mount Holyoke College, and Eric Wieschaus, Princeton University

9. Pole Cell Formation, Cellularization and Early Gastrulation

Daniel Kiehart, Duke University; Shinya Inoué, Marine Biological Laboratory; and Paul E. Young, Miles Laboratories

10. Hatching

Mary S. Tyler, University of Maine

11. The Larva: The Three Instars; Molting or Ecdysis; The Third Instar

Jamie W. Schnetzer and Mary S. Tyler, University of Maine

12. Dissection of the Third Instar Larva: Salivary Glands, Imaginal Discs and Gonads

Mary S. Tyler, University of Maine

13. Metamorphosis (Summary)

Jamie W. Schnetzer, University of Maine

14. First Prepupal Stage: The White Pupa and Its Beating Heart

Erik C. Johnson, Harold B. Dowse, and Jamie W. Schnetzer, University of Maine

15. Prepupal and Pupal stages: Prepupal Stages P2-P4; Head Eversion; Pupal Stages P5-P15; Eclosion; Wing Inflation

Jamie W. Schnetzer, University of Maine

16. Genes and Mutant Flies

y: yellow , e: ebony , w: white , B: Bar and f: forked , ap: apterous and cn: cinnabar, bw: brown and vg: vestigial , Cy: Curly , Sb: Stubble , Antp: Antennapedia , shi: shibire

John M. Ringo, Erik C. Johnson, and Mary S. Tyler, University of Maine

The film comes with a booklet (approx. 40 pp.) that presents information on each segment of the film, along with a "getting started" section for those who want to raise fruit flies for the classroom, a list of suppliers, an annotated selected bibliography, and a glossary of terms used in the film.