Monthly Temperatures and Wing Centroid Sizes of Fruit Fly Specimens
| Month | Average high (°F) | Average low (°F) | Average male wing centroid size (mm) | Average female wing centroid size (mm) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July | 87 | 62 | 2.02 | 2.31 |
| June | 80 | 56 | 2.01 | 2.31 |
| May | 73 | 50 | 1.98 | 2.27 |
| October | 67 | 44 | 1.98 | 2.29 |
Drosophila (fruit flies) have generation times of 10-12 days, so seasonal changes in humidity and other environmental conditions can drive seasonal fluctuations in chromosome rearrangements in species such as D. persimilis and D. mediopunctata. Drosophila body size (for which wing centroid size serves as a proxy measure) correlates with life span. Banu Şebnem Önder and Cansu Fidan Aksoy measured the wing sizes members of a D. melanogaster population in Yeşilöz, Turkey, that were collected monthly between May and October over three years. Their research suggests that Drosophila collected in relatively cooler months should tend to have a shorter life span, as is illustrated by the finding that