Featured below is a fluorescence digital image of three imaginal discs: a leg, haltere, and wing, from a third instar Drosophila (fruit fly), all labeled with a green fluorescent dye attached to the Cubitus interruptus (Ci) protein. Imaginal discs are larval tissue structures that develop into adult appendages.

Fruit Fly Imaginal Discs: Leg, Haltere, and Wing Specimen: Drosophila Imaginal Discs Technique: Fluorescence

The life span of the fruit fly is approximately fourteen days. One day after fertilization, a fruit fly egg is hatched into a worm-like larva approximately one millimeter long. During this stage, the larva eats continuously, and molts one, two, four, and six days after hatching. A fruit fly in the larval stage is also equipped with a breathing tube at its tail end.