Drosophila bifurca is a species of fruit fly

Drosophilidae

Drosophilidae is a diverse, cosmopolitan family of flies, which includes fruit flies. Another family of flies called Tephritidae also includes fruit flies. The best known species of Drosophilidae is Drosophila melanogaster, within the genus Drosophila, and this species Is used extensively for...

. Males of this species are known to have the longest sperm

Spermatozoon

A spermatozoon is a motile sperm cell, or moving form of the haploid cell that is the male gamete. A spermatozoon joins an ovum to form a zygote...

 cells of any organism on Earth, an astonishing 5.8 cm long when uncoiled. The cells are mostly tail, and are delivered to the females in tangled coils. In a male's entire life he can only make a few hundred such cells. The other members of the genus Drosophila

Drosophila

Drosophila is a genus of small flies, belonging to the family Drosophilidae, whose members are often called "fruit flies" or more appropriately pomace flies, vinegar flies, or wine flies, a reference to the characteristic of many species to linger around overripe or rotting fruit...

also make very few, giant sperm cells, with D. bifurcas being the longest.

External links

• LiveScience article