Common Fruit Fly Larva
Drosophila melanogaster (larva)
This soft maggot-like stage lives inside overripe or fermenting fruit, where moisture and yeast are abundant. It feeds by rasping through softened fruit and the microbes growing on it with small mouth hooks. The larva spends most of its time wriggling and tunnelling through the pulp rather than moving in the open. A notable feature is its rapid growth through several larval instars before leaving the food to pupate.
- Type
- Burrow
- Conservation status
- NE
Growth chain
- Common Fruit Fly Larva
- ?
- Common Fruit Fly