Drosophila melanogaster

I have been studying how hormones control the first stages of development in one species of fruit flies, Drosophila melanogaster. Flies are known as a model organism, which means that they are used to understand the biology of other organisms. Fruit flies share about 75% of the genes that cause disease in humans and that is exactly why scientists are often experimenting with them (Service, Elizabeth). In insects, two major hormones control the timing of their development; juvenile hormone and ecdysone. The juvenile hormone reaches its greatest concentration when the egg hatches, entering the larval stage. When juvenile hormone amounts decrease throughout the stages, this triggers prothoracicotropic hormone, leading to the pupal stage for the fruit fly.