Drosophila Melanogaster Experiment Essay

Overall, the lab provided expected results. Most of our hypotheses were correct, including Dim vs. Red, Dim vs. Blue, and Dim vs. Black. We hypothesized that Drosophila Melanogaster would prefer dim light over all colors, especially blue and black due to the fact that they have very short wavelengths which are lethal to the flies. However, results from 2 out of our 5 trials did not support the hypotheses. In the initial trial, Dim vs. Dim, we expected an equal number of flies on each side of the chamber due to the same lighting on both sides. Yet, the results proved otherwise, as Drosophila Melanogaster showed a strong preference for Side B. In finding the reason for this preference when the dim lighting was seemingly the same, we found that instead of using two of the same light bulb, we used two different light bulbs: a CFL and a normal incandescent. The majority of the Drosophila Melanogaster traveled towards the incandescent bulb. This behavior is supported by other experiments — not specifically on Drosophila Melanogaster, but on insects in general. Michael Justice notes that “the incandescent bulb had the highest capture rate [on insects], followed by CFL, halogen, LED with a cool color temperature, and the "bug" light” (Justice).

For Dim V Red, the average amount of Drosophila Melanogaster was 17 on the red side, versus 35 on the dim side. For Blue the average number was 6.5 as opposed to 45.5. And finally for Black the numbers were 6 to 46. Our findings correlated with those of Rieger, Dirk, et al who formulated that flies prefer dim light. Ishida, Hamasaka, and Hanoi 's findings were also found to be accurate, that the Drosophila Melanogaster is not affected by Red Light. Finally regarding Hori’s conclusion that Drosophila Melanogaster have lethal effects, while we did not fully test the hypothesis, it was observed that they do tend to avoid high frequency