Drosophila melanogaster, the common
fruit fly, is the best-known
species within the
genus Drosophila. "Melanogaster" roughly means "dark belly". These tiny flies are extensively used as
experimental animals to study
genetics,
cell biology, and
developmental biology.
From the BioTech Dictionary at http://biotech.icmb.utexas.edu/. For further information see the BioTech homenode.