fruit fly
nounDefinition of fruit fly
: any of various small dipteran flies (such as a drosophila) whose larvae feed on fruit or decaying vegetable matter
Examples of fruit fly in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
This is according to Harvard researchers who in 2011 documented dragonflies’ efficiency at capturing fruit flies. — Anchorage Daily News, "The dragonfly, Alaska’s state insect, is a nimble flying machine," 20 July 2019 From ants that pillage your pantry to banana-loving fruit flies or fleas that piggyback on your pets, the battle against bugs is ongoing. — Natalie Schumann, Country Living, "How To Get Rid of Roaches Before They Become a Major Problem," 18 July 2019 Cells That Understand Statistics For decades, scientists have been studying fruit fly larvae for clues about how development unfolds. — Jordana Cepelewicz, WIRED, "The Mysterious Math of How Cells Determine Their Own Fate," 24 Mar. 2019 Cells That Understand Statistics For decades, scientists have been studying fruit fly larvae for clues about how development unfolds. — Quanta Magazine, "The Math That Tells Cells What They Are," 13 Mar. 2019 This Easter Island ooze made fruit flies, worms and yeast cells live longer. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "Can a single pill keep you healthy to 100?," 10 July 2019 Our presence seems as inconsequential as the death of a fruit fly. — Barry Lopez, Harper's magazine, "Polar Light," 10 Jan. 2019 The second paper was regarding how temperature affects development in fruit flies. — Daniel I. Dorfman, chicagotribune.com, "Shout Out: Sam Gascoigne, a Goldwater Scholarship winner from Lake Forest College," 28 June 2019 By switching fruit flies' sensory neurons on and off with light, scientists were able to create the sensation of sweet or bitter tastes. — Christopher Intagliata, Scientific American, "Scientists Fool Flies with 'Virtual Tastes'," 26 June 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'fruit fly.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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