Scientists at Caltech , using fermented juice as bait have discovered that a fruit fly can travel six million times its body length in search of food.
Flies were lured by “a tantalizing cocktail of fermenting apple juice and champagne yeast produces carbon dioxide and ethanol, which are irresistible to a fruit fly.” Scientists released buckets of fruit flies on a dry lakebed in California’s Mojave Desert, far away from any other tempting food source.
The team is studying how far the flies would travel to a food source. Certain species of fruit flies are invasive and can cause significant agricultural damage. Their results will be published in the April issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Read more (Caltech)