Adult flies cannot survive longer than 12 hours without oxygen, while fly embryos can survive much longer.
Here's a more detailed breakdown:
- Adult Flies: Studies show that adult Drosophila flies exposed to a complete lack of oxygen (anoxia) do not survive beyond 12 hours. Furthermore, their survival rate in low-oxygen (hypoxia) environments declines rapidly after just 4 hours.
- Fly Embryos: Interestingly, fly embryos demonstrate a far greater resilience to oxygen deprivation. They can survive at least 36 hours of anoxia with nearly 100% survival.
This difference in survival rates between adult flies and embryos highlights varying metabolic demands and adaptations at different life stages. Adult flies have higher energy requirements and are therefore more susceptible to oxygen deprivation.
