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This is a female Drosophila deflecta Malloch, one of many fruit fly species. That black line represents a millimeter. This image is actually a compilation of 50-80 photos taken under a microscope in order to bring out features such as key wing spots and body color patterns. The photographer, Thomas Werner of Michigan Tech University, is currently funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to investigate how fruit flies evolved to feed on toxic mushrooms.
Why can they tolerate high doses of a toxin that is deadly to most other animals? Werner recently co-authored with NSF-funded John Jaenike of the University of Rochester and others a compilation of fruit fly species and photographs: Drosophilids of the Midwest and Northeast.Image credit: Thomas Werner/Michigan Tech University
