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Wonder Model organism for Forensic Entomology and Genetic Studies - Megaselia scalaris –Its Life Cycle, Breeding Methods and Wing Mutants

Ganesh Dama

Megaselia is a genus of small flies, belonging to the family Phoridae, it is commonly called as “Scuttle fly”. Megaselia scalaris, the “scuttle fly” a little insect about 2-3mm long, is an excellent organism to study genetic mechanisms. The general principles of, sex determination, molecular and developmental genetics may all be admirably demonstrated by using the scuttle fly Megaselia scalaris. The life cycle of Megaselia scalaris is short and completes in about three weeks. Embryonic development, which follows fertilization and the formation of the zygote, occurs within the egg membrane. Egg develops into larva, which eats and grows and at length becomes pupa. The pupa, in turn develops in to adult. The duration of these stages varies with the temperature. Megaselia cultures ought to be kept in room temperature where the temperature does not range below 21- 310C. They bred on jaggery medium, agar-based diets such as chocolate and blood agar and animal tissues such as liver or meat are commonly being used as food source because it provides sufficient nutrient for larval growth .The male and the female are differentiated (under the microscope) based on their size, markings on their abdomen and presence of sex combs following anesthetization with ether. Various wing mutants were isolated from Megaselia scalaris like vestigial wing, wave wing, curly wing, hook wing, which are resembled to the wing mutants of Drosophila melanogaster.