Deficiency Pathology - Diagnose Sick Plants, Follow up with Cure

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Foliar Symptomology, Nutrient Content, Yield, and Secondary Metabolite Variability of Cannabis Grown Hydroponically with Different Single-Element Nutrient Deficiencies

In controlled environment production systems, Cannabis sativa (hereafter cannabis) is a commodity with high nutrient demands due to prolific growth under optimized environmental conditions. Since nutrient deficiencies can reduce yield and quality, cultivators need tools to rapidly detect and...

www.mdpi.com

Optimisation of Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium for Soilless Production of Cannabis sativa in the Flowering Stage Using Response Surface Analysis

Following legalisation, cannabis has quickly become an important horticultural crop in Canada and increasingly so in other parts of the world. However, due to previous legal restrictions on cannabis research there are limited scientific data on the relationship ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Plant_nutrition

Plant_nutrition the macronutrients: nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), sulfur (S), magnesium (Mg), carbon (C), hydrogen (H), oxygen (O) the micronutrients (or trace minerals): iron (Fe), boron (B), chlorine (Cl), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), molybdenum (Mo), nic...

docs.google.com

Work in progress...

5.1: Brønsted–Lowry Acids and Bases

chem.libretexts.org

Periodic Table of the Elements

chem.libretexts.org

https://www.fishersci.com/us/en/periodic-table.html

THIS SHEET ABOVE WILL INCLUDE TARGET LEVEL OF NUTES FOR CANNABIS
SOURCES WILL BE SOIL TEST AND IDENTIFIED DEFICIENCY AS WELL AS TEST CASES

A visual guide to cannabis deficiencies

A visual guide to cannabis deficiencies Many growers look for the ‘secret’ to growing the best possible cannabis. In reality there is no single secret, instead there are some basic principles. Your plants need to be kept in the right temperature/humidity range, with a suitable light, climate and ...

docs.google.com

DP HAS PROVIDED EXCELLENT RESOURCES TO GO FROM IN THE MEANWHILE

A visual guide to cannabis deficiencies

Worried about your plant health? See a cannabis deficiency that you cannot identify? Our guide to cannabis deficiencies may help you solve your problems

dutch-passion.com

"The availability of the most abundant nutrient in the soil is only as good
as the availability of the least abundant nutrient in the soil."

MY PRIMARY INTEREST IS IN ORGANICS WILL LIST SOME THREADS BELOW THIS LINE TO KNOWLEDGEABLE HYDRO ICers
IN BEST PRACTICES ITS BEST TO TEST SOIL AND SOLUTION,

UNDERSTANDING YOUR SOIL / SOLUTION TESTS

Mehlich-1 (Dilute Double Acid)​

Mehlich-1, or the dilute double-acid extractant, is one of the earliest versions of "universal" soil extractants (single chemical reagent that can extract all the essential plant nutrients), and is especially suited for the acidic, low organic matter, mineral soils of the southeastern United States. Adopting the M1 procedure enabled universal extraction of all standard plant nutrients in the soil sample, including P, K, Ca, Mg, Zn, Cu, Mn, and B. The M1 extractant is composed of two dilute acids: 0.05M HCl and 0.0125M H2SO4 (Table 1). Mehlich-1 was the soil extractant used as the standard method by the UF/IFAS Extension Soil Testing Laboratory for acidic-mineral soils in the state. This extractant is well designed for soils in the acidic pH range with low CEC (Mylavarapu and Miller 2014).


However, M1 should not be used to extract neutral or alkaline soils. When exposed to a neutral or alkaline pH soil, M1 rapidly loses effectiveness because the dilute acids are effectively neutralized. M1 is also rendered ineffective in soils with high cation exchange capacity (CEC), high Al and Fe accumulation, and high organic matter (>5%) content.

Mehlich-3 (M3)​

In order to overcome the limitations of M1, Mehlich improved the chemistry and developed the Mehlich-3 (M3) extraction solution (Mehlich 1984). In the M3 extractant, the two dilute double acids used in M1 have been replaced with 0.2M CH3COOH, 0.015M NH4F, 0.013M HN03, 0.001M EDTA, and 0.25M NH4N03. Presence of 0.001M EDTA essentially enhanced the extraction of micronutrients, particularly Cu. It was expected that this extractant would also make the extraction of Mn and Zn consistent and result in a better correlation with plant uptake. In the M3 development process, emphasis was placed on detection of micronutrient deficiencies compared with toxicities. Soil sample pH in the acidic range of pH ~ 2.5 (accomplished through the addition of 0.2M CH3COOH) was required during the M3 extraction process to take advantage of the fluoride component. A pH of 2.5 helped prevent reaction of Ca and F to form a CaF2 precipitate. The fluoride facilitated the extraction of phosphates associated with Fe and Al while ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3) effectively extracted exchangeable cations. State extension laboratories in several southern US states have since moved to the M3 extraction procedure because of its improved efficiency (particularly for micronutrients) and its broad range of applicability (slightly beyond neutral pH) (Zhang et al. 2014). Also, the M3 procedure has been the only soil test extraction method that has been validated through interlaboratory studies for extraction of plant-available phosphorus and used as a reference method for testing soil materials for extractable P (Zhang et al. 2009).

place soil in jar with water and shake settle view horizons

 

[acespicoli]

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/chemistry/phytotoxicity

FOLLOW UP TOPIC

 

[acespicoli]

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0261219499000460

We have demonstrated that the residue of glutamic fermentation of molasses and a product of milk fermentation released by Lactobacillus were effective for the control of powdery mildew on zucchini squash (Bettiol, 1996; Astiarraga and Bettiol, 1997; Bettiol and Astiarraga, 1998).

 

[pipeline]

May be a re-post not sure if was on this thread, but good information to see the prevelance of different diseases.

HO-339-W
Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Oregon, Wisconsin
Pest Management of Hemp

Click here for extension publication--

https://extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/HO/HO-339-W.pdf

Horticulture and Landscape Architecture

Horticulture & Landscape Architecture

Horticulture & Landscape Architecture College of Agriculture Purdue University

ag.purdue.edu

Pest Management of Hemp

Now that most states allow hemp to be grown, and more uses for hemp fiber are found, an increase in production may be ah

edustore.purdue.edu

 

[pipeline]

https://www.cannabisbusinesstimes.com/news/hop-latent-viroid-spread-zamir-punja/

4 Methods of Spread for Hop Latent Viroid: What Every Cultivator Should Know About This ‘Silent Killer’​

Dr. Zamir Punja, a professor of plant biotechnology at Simon Fraser University, explains what he’s uncovered in his recent research.

These two plants are the same cultivar three weeks into flowering: The one on the left is infected with hop latent viroid, while the other is not.
Photo courtesy of Zamir Punja
Tony Lange | June 08, 2023

Photo courtesy of Zamir Punja
These two plants are the same cultivar three weeks into flowering: The one on the left is infected with hop latent viroid, while the other is not.Flower quality is everything in the cannabis world: size, potency, color, smell, taste, you name it.
But there’s been an undercover assassin impacting this quality for decades now, refusing to show its face until it’s too late. This tiny, molecular parasite is highly infectious and responsible for billions of dollars in damage via reduced yields, underdeveloped trichomes and diminished THC content.
Hop latent viroid (HpLVd)—first reported in commercial varieties of hops in the late-1980s but only recently properly diagnosed in cannabis plants—stays busy producing millions of copies, and it uses the energy from the plant to do so. This is why infected cannabis plants experience stunted growth and don’t produce quality flower, said Dr. Zamir Punja, a professor of plant pathology and biotechnology at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada.

Dr. Zamir Punja
“There’s just no energy left to create cannabinoids,” he said, which is why many growers who first started noticing the symptoms of HpLVd’s unique RNA microbes in their plants often referred to the effects as “dudding” or “dudders.” Although, the symptoms aren’t always noticeable until the late stages of a cannabis plant’s life cycle.
RELATED: The Science Void
“You’ve got smaller flowers, they may be a little bit yellow—they don’t look so good,” Punja said. “The rest of the plant may be a little stunted, but looks fine. You don’t see the leaves curling. So, it’s a weird one in that it knows the cannabis flowers are where to go and cause the most damage, and that’s where it ends up.”
Unless a cannabis cultivator is actively testing root samples from his or her plants, the viroid can be difficult to detect until the flowing stage of the growth cycle, when stunted growth and small bud sites become more evident. And because HpLVd is internalized, meaning it’s in the vascular system of the plant, any cuttings, particularly clones, will automatically have the viroid in them, Punja said.
The lack of external symptoms for HpLVd vastly differs from fungal diseases, such as the white or brown features associated with powdery mildew or botrytis, which cannabis cultivators can quickly identify and eradicate before infections become widespread throughout a grow.
The signs of HpLVd, however, are often unrecognizable to the untrained eye, especially considering various cannabis cultivars can develop different phenotypes that have diverse pigmentation or leaf sizes, making the viroid’s external symptoms less distinguishable, Punja said.
“And so, I call it a silent killer, because you don’t always see the symptoms,” he said. “It’s when you actually harvest the flowers and you weigh them that you realize, ‘Boy, this weight is down. What did I do wrong this year? Did I not fertilize properly? Was the environment too hot?’ And then when you measure THC, that’s down too.”
HpLVd’s impact on cannabis flower can be as much as 30% to 50% in reduced cannabinoid content, notably THC, Punja said. A cultivar that normally produces 25% THC when healthy could test as low as 15% to 18% THC, he said. Terpenes can be down by about 10%, but not all terpene compounds are affected. And while more research is needed, Punja said there are genotypic differences in the extent to which cannabinoid compounds are affected.
“I know [a cultivar] like Mac 1 is what we consider highly, highly sensitive,” he said. “And yet there might be another strain growing right next to it, let’s say a Kush variety, and it’s fine—or at least it’s not showing any symptoms. Now we have tested it, and we’ve found hop latent to be present, but it almost looks like the plant is sort of no big deal.”
Furthermore, Punja estimates hop latent viroid’s effect on reduced fresh flower weights to be in the range of 20% to 25%, although he discovered in his research that yields for certain cultivars could be impacted more or less. The following table shows differences among four genotypes and the average reductions in weight, THC content and growth.

Courtesy of Zamir Punja
Regardless, the key is to know whether your plants are infected in order to prevent spread, Punja said. And this disease is not unique to one sector of the U.S. market or in Canada.
“It’s everywhere,” including in every province in Canada, he said. “The frequency is 25% of all plants we’ve tested [in Canada].” And Punja, who visits licensed cultivation facilities weekly, suggests the frequency rate is even higher in the U.S.
Notably, in early 2021, Dark Heart Nursey announced the findings of a formal survey of cannabis growers across California. The results: 90% of state facilities researched were testing positive for HpLVd after some 200,000 tissue tests.
So, what’s a cannabis cultivator to do?
Here, Punja goes into detail about four methods of spread for hop latent viroid in high-THC cannabis, and how to prevent the viroid from infecting healthy plants nearby.
Editor’s note: With more than 35 years’ experience in plant sciences, Dr. Zamir Punja’s research interests include the etiology and management of plant diseases on vegetables and horticultural crops, and the applicants of plant biotechnology for disease management. Since 2018, his work has shifted to researching cannabis, where his group has described a range of previously unreported pathogens affecting the crop and has evaluated various methods for disease management. He will be speaking at Cannabis Conference 2023 (Aug. 15-17 at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel and Casino) on “Cultivators’ Profit Killer: HpLVd And The Next Viruses Coming To Cannabis.”

1.) Infected Clones Taken From Infected Mother Plants​

Tony Lange | Cannabis Business Times
This photo depicts a mother room at an indoor grow facility that is presumed to be healthy.
When a clone is taken from an infected mother plant, Punja said he’s observed 100% occurrence of hop latent viroid in the rooting of those clones during his research. This is the most likely source of spread, he said.
Some growers are only clipping the youngest shoots off the mother plants in an effort to try and stay ahead of the viroid, but that won’t eliminate the spread altogether, Punja said, even if the occurrence for transmission isn’t quite 100% while deploying this cloning method.
“I still think taking clones from an infected mom is dangerous because it’s already there; it’s internalized,” he said. “So, the minute you then start rooting it, you stick it into [stone wool], the first thing you see, of course, is there’s less roots. The rooting frequency is reduced.”

Tony Lange | Cannabis Business Times
Clones taken from a mother plant.
Sometimes adding the wrong amount of a rooting hormone, among other factors, can also affect the rooting system on clones. But if it takes 14 days for a decent rooting system to develop on healthy clones, and a grower notices that timeline extends to 21 days or more, then there’s a sign of a problem, Punja said.
Punja did stress that various genotypes do differ in their root development, so there’s not a one-size-fits-all timeline to this equation. But the roots are a great place to diagnose HpLVd.
During his research, Punja tested mother plants from four positions, taking samples from the top, the side, the bottom and the roots. On occasion, samples from certain sections, particularly leaves from the bottom section, of an infected mother plant tested negative for HpLVd. But the roots always tested correctly for the presence of the viroid, he said.
Similarly, Punja tested leaf samples, petiole samples and root samples of various genotypes, and the root samples consistently produced the most accurate results for the viroid while infected leaf samples—particularly those taken from the bottom of the plant—often produced false negatives.
“What we do know is when you test the roots, in every case, whether it’s showing symptoms, whether it’s a lower infection, whether it’s a high infection, the roots always seem to show a [correct] positive,” he said. “So, the first thing I think growers should do is have the [mother] plants tested and grab root a sample; run it through.”

2.) Seeds Harvested From Infected Flowering Plants​

Photo courtesy of Zamir Punja
The plant on the left has HpLVd. Both plants are of the same cultivar four weeks into flowering.
The second most likely source is from seeds harvested from infected flowering plants confirmed to contain the viroid, Punja said. This can occur at frequencies of 5% to 35%, depending on the level of initial infection in the flowering plant.
During his research, Punja collaborated with Colorado-based TUMI Genomics, which provides pathogen detection and mitigation solutions to safeguard plant health for the cannabis industry, including HpLVd testing.
With 18,000-plus diagnostics conducted for 450 customers from 10 countries, TUMI Genomics’ testing laboratory data has identified HpLVd in roughly 75% of facilities across the U.S., Canada and Europe.
Specifically as it relates to seeds, TUMI Genomics has conducted research in collaboration with the Agriculture Department at Texas A&M to determine the frequency of seed transmission for HpLVd in cannabis plants. The company shared its data with Punja.
“Even if the pollen is clean and you’ve got this infected mother [as the source for your seeds], many of those seeds, in some cases up to 30 to 40 percent, will carry the viroid either in it or on it,” he said. “Now, seed testing is hard. The reason I say that is because, well, once you ground up the seed, you don’t have anything left, right?”
Punja recommends that those who grow from seeds put their plants in a separate room all together, let them grow to 1 1/2 or 2 feet, and then test the roots right away before bringing those plants into a production facility.
Some growers will try and disinfect their seeds before germination. Often, they will use a 10% bleach concentration for two minutes in an effort to disinfect without killing the seed, Punja said.
“That seems to be OK for eliminating some of [the viroid] on the outside and still allowing you to grow and germinate your seed,” he said. “If it’s in the seed, the only way to know that would be then to grow those plants up and then maybe take random samples when they’re up at a certain height and test the roots.”

3.) The Viroid Spreads Through Infected Sap on Contaminated Tools​

Tony Lange | Cannabis Business Times
A cannabis cultivation worker defoliates a canopy by hand.
The third likely source of hop latent viroid spread is through infected sap on contaminated tools used to prune plants or obtain cuts for clones, Punja said.
In this method, the viroid spread occurs from the cut stem (an open wound) down into the roots within two weeks, and then it spreads from the roots through the rest of the plant in four to six weeks, he said.
“That’s where dipping your tools into bleach or Virkon becomes really important, because if you do cut an infected mom not knowing and immediately use those scissors to cut another mom, [the viroid spreads],” Punja said “We’ve demonstrated that [getting] that little bit of sap onto the fresh plant will move the viroid into the plant.”
While most growers already know disinfecting their tools is key to preventing disease spread, Punja said it’s important to note that ethanol and hydrogen peroxide don’t seem to be effective for HpLVd prevention. The maximum infection rate is roughly 25% for any cuts, prunes or damaged surface that allows HpLVd to get in, he said.
But Punja does not believe simply touching or gentling handling one plant and then another is a cause for spread. While infected sap can survive on nitrile disposable gloves, the ones often used at cultivation facilities, defoliating a canopy by hand does not present a high risk for spreading the viroid, he said.
While pruning involves using shearers to snip branches and stems, defoliation involves the hand-plucking of fan leaves to allow air circulation and light penetration throughout a canopy.
WATCH: How to Defoliate a Canopy
“They go through it, and they pull the leaves off, and they don’t go back and retouch the [same area of the] plant. So I don’t think that’s a major way for it to spread,” Punja said. “It’s also pretty clear that the earlier the infection, the more chances you’re going to get problems later on. So, the earliest you can get infection obviously is the clone.”
Defoliation usually occurs right before the flowering stage and again shortly after. Once the plant leaves the nursery and then gets into the flowering room, if hop latent viroid infection occurs there, the impacts aren’t as severe because the viroid has less time to spread, he said.

4.) Infected Roots in a Hydropic System, Root-to-Root Contact, or Recirculating Nutrient Solution Containing the Viroid​

Tony Lange | Cannabis Business Times
Many indoor and greenhouse growers use stone wool and recycled water to irrigate their plants.
While there is no scientific evidence (yet) of HpLVd spreading simply by plant leaves touching each another, root-to-root contact or fertigation/irrigation methods involving recirculating water or nutrient solutions is a fourth source of spread.
And, as Punja mentioned earlier, the roots are the most reliable part of the plant to test for the presence of the viroid.
“Hydroponic systems are more vulnerable to hop latent, because if they’re sitting in [stone wool] and they’re on a flood table, the roots are coming through,” he said. “If that plant has hop latent, it gets into the root first. And root cells come off; they slough off just like skin. And those cells, if they move down the table or if they move with irrigation water, or if the grower is recirculating and recycling water, which they should be doing, there’s a good chance that water’s contaminated and it’s got some hop latent in it and it moves over to another plant.”
The occurrence rate isn’t as significant in this method of spread—Punja said roughly 20% infection can occur in the roots through water circulation—but root debris and cellular transmission of the viroid is a big enough concern for growers to pay attention to, he said.

Photo courtesy of Zamir Punja
The harvested plant on the left was infected by HpLVd, while the plant on the right was healthy (same cultivar).
While management practices should target the most likely methods of HpLVd spread—such as maintaining viroid-free mother plants, testing clones and seeds, and properly cleaning tools—mitigating the spread in hydroponic systems isn’t so easy, especially considering the viroid remains stable up to 175 degrees Fahrenheit (80 degrees Celsius), Punja said.
For recirculated/recycled water, treatments can include heat or adding chemicals such as hypochlorous acid (to produce chlorine), as well as other disinfectants, he said. Punja does not have data on this yet, as treating water that has viroid in it and then showing it is absent or noninfective is difficult experimentally, he said.
“The interesting thing is soil,” he said. “A lot of soil growers say, ‘We don’t see a lot of hop latent.’ Now that may be that they got lucky or they haven’t seen the symptoms, but in soil it rules out that 20% infection through water. It just doesn’t happen. Water’s going to percolate through the soil; it’s not going to make it to the root system, and you’re not going to see root-to-root spread.”
Soil-grown cannabis may have less of an incidence for spread, but fewer indoor or greenhouse growers are using soil because of the associated costs compared to using stone wool.
“The latest thing I’m looking at is treatment,” Punja said, “What can we do to see if we can eliminate, or at least prevent, the spread of this thing? It’s going to be tough because in every other case where they’ve had viroids, let’s say potato or tomato, they’ve gotten rid of it simply by throwing everything infected out and starting clean and keeping it clean.”
With many cannabis cultivators hoarding their coveted genetics for decades, the idea of “throwing everything infected” away isn’t an idea received with open arms among legacy operators. While flower quality is everything, so too are genetics.
Instead of full eradication, many growers are dedicated to “breeding down” their genetics to imperceptible levels.
But is this a viable option?
“I think it’s definitely possible,” Punja said. “But the key is to know that you have infection. You can’t just breed, breed, breed and say, ‘Oh, it looks great.’… It reminds me of COVID, how some people get really bad symptoms and others are fine. That’s exactly the case [with HpLVd in cannabis plants]. You may have certain genetics that just collapse and another one that is able to withstand it.
“So, that’s sort of the symptomology that maybe it’s environment, maybe it’s genetic—we don’t know yet. But the short answer is, yes, go for the breeding.”

 

[acespicoli]

$ AN OUNCE OF PREVENTION IS WORTH A POUND OF CURE $ IPM - INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobacco_mosaic_virus INTERESTING FACT... IT USED TO BE ADVISED, SPRAYING PLANTS WITH TOBACCO TEA AS INSECTICIDE... now its not so common knowledge, that just by a smoker touching a plant after a smoke break can transmit tmv from the cigarette to the hand to the...

www.icmag.com

IPM - (INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT) PREVENTION, INSECTS, MOLDS, FUNGUS, VIRUS

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_pest_management IPM system designed around six basic components Acceptable pest levels Preventive cultural practices Monitoring Mechanical controls Biological controls Responsible use...

www.icmag.com

ZeroTol 2.0 is for use against the following pathogens:​

• Alternaria
• Powdery Mildew
• Xanthomonas
• Bacterial Blights
• Algae
• Botrytis (grey mold)
• Phytophthora (blights, rots)
• Tobacco mosaic virus

 

[pipeline]

First Report of Witches'-Broom Disease in a Cannabis spp. in China and Its Association with a Phytoplasma of Elm Yellows Group (16SrV) - PubMed

Hemp fiber plants (Cannabis spp.) spread naturally in almost every climate zone in China and have a long history of cultivation in the country (1). While hemp stalks provide high-quality fibers for making ropes, clothes, and paper products, hemp seeds are a rich source of edible oil. During the...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[pipeline]

$ AN OUNCE OF PREVENTION IS WORTH A POUND OF CURE $ IPM - INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobacco_mosaic_virus INTERESTING FACT... IT USED TO BE ADVISED, SPRAYING PLANTS WITH TOBACCO TEA AS INSECTICIDE... now its not so common knowledge, that just by a smoker touching a plant after a smoke break can transmit tmv from the cigarette to the hand to the...

www.icmag.com

IPM - (INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT) PREVENTION, INSECTS, MOLDS, FUNGUS, VIRUS

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_pest_management IPM system designed around six basic components Acceptable pest levels Preventive cultural practices Monitoring Mechanical controls Biological controls Responsible use...

www.icmag.com

View attachment 18963396

ZeroTol 2.0 is for use against the following pathogens:​

• Alternaria
• Powdery Mildew
• Xanthomonas
• Bacterial Blights
• Algae
• Botrytis (grey mold)
• Phytophthora (blights, rots)
• Tobacco mosaic virus

View attachment 18963399

Careful with Zero-Tol. We used that at the nursery for algae on flats and accidently burned some Oak seed in propagation flats. Do a few test flats before spraying everything. Its a great product. Worked well to keep algae and crust from forming. Also helps reduce fungus gnats.

Useful tool to have though. Taking cuttings can be a dangerous time. Keep everything clean. You can just use rubbing alcohol to clean tools, but that will allow cuttings to have diseases controlled.

I prefer to use organic products, I don't think that is. May be able to use a bordeaux mixture to spray on cuttings. Have you ever heard of that? Could check with university extension.

 

[acespicoli]

Drosophila melanogaster - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Specific neuron groups in females have been found to affect copulation behavior and mate choice. One such group in the abdominal nerve cord allows the female fly to pause her body movements to copulate.[31] Activation of these neurons induces the female to cease movement and orient herself towards the male to allow for mounting. If the group is inactivated, the female remains in motion and does not copulate. Various chemical signals such as male pheromones often are able to activate the group.[31]

Also, females exhibit mate choice copying. When virgin females are shown other females copulating with a certain type of male, they tend to copulate more with this type of male afterwards than naïve females (which have not observed the copulation of others).

Drosophila melanogaster
Scientific classification
Binomial name
Fruit fly feeding off a banana
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Diptera
Family:	Drosophilidae
Genus:	Drosophila
Subgenus:	Sophophora
Species group:	melanogaster
Species subgroup:	melanogaster
Species complex:	melanogaster
Species:	D. melanogaster
Drosophila melanogaster Meigen, 1830[1]

Drosophila melanogaster is a species of fly (an insect of the order Diptera) in the family Drosophilidae. The species is often referred to as the fruit fly or lesser fruit fly, or less commonly the "vinegar fly", "pomace fly",[a][4] or "banana fly".[5] In the wild, D. melanogaster are attracted to rotting fruit and fermenting beverages, and are often found in orchards, kitchens and pubs.
Starting with Charles W. Woodworth's 1901 proposal of the use of this species as a model organism,[6][7] D. melanogaster continues to be widely used for biological research in genetics, physiology, microbial pathogenesis, and life history evolution. As of 2017, six Nobel Prizes have been awarded to drosophilists for their work using the insect.[8][9]

D. melanogaster is typically used in research owing to its rapid life cycle, relatively simple genetics with only four pairs of chromosomes, and large number of offspring per generation.[10] It was originally an African species, with all non-African lineages having a common origin.[11] Its geographic range includes all continents, including islands.[12] D. melanogaster is a common pest in homes, restaurants, and other places where food is served.[13]
Flies belonging to the family Tephritidae are also called "fruit flies". This can cause confusion, especially in the Mediterranean, Australia, and South Africa, where the Mediterranean fruit fly Ceratitis capitata is an economic pest.

Etymology​

The term "Drosophila", meaning "dew-loving", is a modern scientific Latin adaptation from Greek words δρόσος, drósos, "dew", and φιλία, philía, "lover". The term "melanogaster" meaning "black-belly", comes from Ancient Greek μέλας, mélas, “black”, and γᾰστήρ, gastḗr, "belly".

Physical appearance​

Female (left) and male (right) D. melanogaster

View from above


Fungus gnats are small, dark, short-lived gnats, of the families Sciaridae, Diadocidiidae, Ditomyiidae, Keroplatidae, Bolitophilidae, and Mycetophilidae (order Diptera); they comprise six of the seven families placed in the superfamily Sciaroidea.

These 15 families belong to the superfamily Sciaroidea:[8]

• Bolitophilidae Meigen, 1818
• Cecidomyiidae Newman, 1835 – gall midges and wood midges, sometimes excluded from Sciaroidea
• Diadocidiidae Winnertz, 1863
• Ditomyiidae Kylin, 1919
• Keroplatidae Rondani (incl. Lygistorrhinidae Edwards, 1925) – long-beaked & predatory fungus gnats
• Mycetophilidae Newman, 1834
• Rangomaramidae Jaschhof and Didham, 2002 – long-winged fungus gnats[9]
• Sciaridae Billberg, 1820 – dark-winged fungus gnats
• † Antefungivoridae Rohdendorf, 1938
• † Archizelmiridae Rohdendorf, 1962
• † Eoditomyiidae
• † Mesosciophilidae
• † Paraxymyiidae Rohdendorf, 1946
• † Pleciofungivoridae Rohdendorf, 1946
• † Protopleciidae

Whiteflies are Hemipterans that typically feed on the undersides of plant leaves. They comprise the family Aleyrodidae, the only family in the superfamily Aleyrodoidea. More than 1550 species have been described.

List of whitefly species - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Mate choice copying - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org