The Effect of Light on Drosophila Population Marie-Christine Alderson Rockdale Magnet School for Science and Technology Spring 2014

INTRODUCTION Think about it- does anyone you know actually like flies? They can spread diseases and other pathogens. When they start to breed, there’s virtually no way of controlling them. Using this method that will be discussed, there may be a population control for the nuisances that are flies.

RATIONALE One viable rationale for this project is that if there is a business or restaurant that has a fly problem but does not want to use a toxic chemical that could harm their business, they can use this method to keep the fly population at bay.

RESEARCH PURPOSE The purpose for this project is to see how different lights on the electromagnetic spectrum can effect fruit fly population

HYPOTHESIS The hypothesis for this project is that the longer the wavelength on the electromagnetic spectrum, (approximately 700 nanometers) the higher the fly population. The shorter the wavelength on the electromagnetic spectrum (approximately 350 nanometers) the lower the fly population.

EDD IV: Different Lights Being Used IV LevelsUVC BulbFluorescentRed Bulb Control (Natural Light) TrialsNumber of Flies DV: Population of the Drosophila

PROCEDURES 1.Eight Vials are placed in the lab 2.Vials set up with drosophila food 3.Drosophila evenly dispersed into each vial 4.Six are placed under lights, two are placed by a window 5.Every other day for a month they were be checked on and counted 6.At the end of the month, they were anesthetized and counted 7.After experimentation they were released into the wild 8.Data Analysis was done using ANOVA

PICTURES

CONCLUSION Inferential statistics showed that the data was significant. The F value was 2.36;6. The P value was <.05.

FUTURE RESEARCH If, in the future, this experiment was to be retried using new variables, it could be used with houseflies instead of drosophila and a wider variety of lights.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my research teacher, Mr. Bolen, for guiding me through this experiment, my 9 th grade research teacher, Mr. Hendrix, for helping me come up with this experiment, and my parents for helping me with all I’ve gone through.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Bellrichard, Mitch. (2011). Insect Attraction to Different Colored Lights Near Lake Itasca State Park. Retrieved May 2013 from Caron, D. (1999). Houseflies. University of Rhode Island. Retrieved May 2013 from Flagg, R. (2005). Carolina Drosophila Manual. Burlington, North Carolina. Carolina Biological Supply Company. Page 9. Grover, D., Yang, J., Tavare, S., Tower, J. (2009). Simultaneous tracking of movement and gene expression in multiple Drosophila melanogaster flies using GFP and DsRED fluorescent reporter transgenes. US National Library of Medicine. Retrieved February 2013, from Mackean DG. (2004). The Housefly. Biology Teaching Resources. Retrieved February 2013, from 01.html Mattson, Barbara. (2013). Electromagnetic Spectrum. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Website. Retrieved May 2013 from Poon, P., Tsung-Han K., Linford, N., Roman, G., Pletcher, S. (2010). Carbon Dioxide Sensing Modulates Lifespan and Physiology in Drosophila. PLOS Biology. Retrieved February 2013, from Sanchez-Arroyo, H., Capinera, J. (2008). University of Florida. Retrieved May 2013 from University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources. (2004). Pests of Homes, Structures, People, and Pets. University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources. Retrieved February 2013, from Wasik, D., Gerry, A. (2011). University of California, Riverside. Retrieved May 2013 from

ACCOMPLISHMENTS Dancer at Conyers School of Ballet for 13 years Cast as Maleficent in the CSOB’s production of Sleeping Beauty Member of the International Thespian Society Cast as the Sugar Plum Fairy, a rat tapper and a Duloc Dancer in RCHS’s production of Shrek the Musical State nominee for Governor’s Honor Program- Dance Nurse in The Case of Alex Hansen, RCHS’s fall One- Act, which won 2 nd place at region.

The Effect of Light on Drosophila Population Marie-Christine Alderson Rockdale Magnet School for Science and Technology Spring 2014 Questions?