Fruit flies battle parasitic wasps by getting drunk (bug, spider, spiders)

[uggabugga]

Fruit flies, which feed off of fermenting fruit, are “essentially living in booze,” according to Mr. Schlenke. “The amount of alcohol in their natural habitat can range from 5 to 15 percent. Imagine if everything that you ate and drank all day long was 5-percent alcohol. We wouldn’t be able to live like that, but fruit flies are really good at detoxifying alcohol,” the evolutionary geneticist posited.

Parasitic wasps are extremely deadly to fruit flies. The wasps place their eggs inside the fruit fly larvae, adding a small amount of immune-suppressing venom. If everything works in the wasp’s favor, the wasp emerges victorious. While many fruit flies succumb to the wasp venom, some fruit flies are able to kill off the wasp eggs with harmful chemicals.

The researchers found that environmental alcohol protects fruit flies from being parasitized by wasps. Researchers also found that imbibing alcohol kills internal wasps. Furthermore, researchers discovered that fruit flies seek out food with higher alcohol content when they are infected by parasitic wasps.

Fruit flies battle parasitic wasps with alcohol | The State Column

[Six Foot Three]

Originally Posted by uggabugga

Fruit flies, which feed off of fermenting fruit, are “essentially living in booze,” according to Mr. Schlenke. “The amount of alcohol in their natural habitat can range from 5 to 15 percent. Imagine if everything that you ate and drank all day long was 5-percent alcohol. We wouldn’t be able to live like that, but fruit flies are really good at detoxifying alcohol,” the evolutionary geneticist posited.

Parasitic wasps are extremely deadly to fruit flies. The wasps place their eggs inside the fruit fly larvae, adding a small amount of immune-suppressing venom. If everything works in the wasp’s favor, the wasp emerges victorious. While many fruit flies succumb to the wasp venom, some fruit flies are able to kill off the wasp eggs with harmful chemicals.

The researchers found that environmental alcohol protects fruit flies from being parasitized by wasps. Researchers also found that imbibing alcohol kills internal wasps. Furthermore, researchers discovered that fruit flies seek out food with higher alcohol content when they are infected by parasitic wasps.

Fruit flies battle parasitic wasps with alcohol | The State Column

Interesting and so no wonder why they love rotting fruit .

I always get a kick out of watching them (as well as jumping spiders) when i place discarded banana peel on my kitchen counter and let it just rot there for a day or so and out of nowhere they (fruit flies) show up and buzz all around it for several days