Drosophila: A Guide to Species Identification and Use

About this book

From the publisher's announcement:

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 fruitfly 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 fruitflies, 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.

Contents

Part 1: How to look at flies Chapter 1: Phylogenetic relationships Chapter 2: Atlas of male and female Drosophila, with terms of morphological characters Chapter 3: Keys to species Part 2: How to collect wild flies Chapter 4: Collection methods (baiting, sweeping, permits, transport) Chapter 5: Distributions of major groups (geographic and habitat) Chapter 6: Handling wild-caught specimens (living cultures, vouchers, preservation) Part 3: How to use living flies Chapter 7: Life history variability Chapter 8: How to use ecological and life history information in fly husbandry Chapter 9: Culture media recipes Chapter 10: How to use life history and behavioral information in experimental design Chapter 11: Trouble shooting: dealing with culturing problems Part 4: Resources Chapter 12: Links to sources for supplies, equipment

Customer Reviews

Biography

By Dr. Therese A. Markow and Dr. Patrick O'Grady