Flies ward off parasitic wasps (IMAGE)

University of California - Berkeley

Flies ward off parasitic wasps

Caption

Fruit flies are generally highly susceptible to parasitic wasps, but some have stolen a gene from bacteria that makes them resistant. This adult fly, Drosophila melanogaster, has two cysts (made dark by melanin) in its abdomen. The cysts are the remains of wasp eggs that the fly successfully suppressed, thanks to the insertion of a toxin gene that originated in a bacteriophage.

Credit

Rebecca Tarnopol, UC Berkeley

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