Oviposition and development of Drosophila modified by magnetic fields.
Drosophila flies placed in a habitat with two lateral boxes demonstrated sensitivity to magnetic fields: Oviposition decreased by exposure to pulsated (extremely low frequency (ELF) (100 Hz, 1.76 miliTesla (mT) ) and sinusosidal fields (50 Hz, 1 mT), while there was no initial effect of exposure to a static magnetic field (4.5 mT). Drosophila eggs treated for 48 h with the above described fields showed that 1) mortality of eggs was lower in controls than in eggs exposed to all tested magnetic fields; 2) mortality of larvae increased when a permanent magnet was used; 3) mortality of pupae was highest when a permanent magnet was used; and 4) general adult viability was highest in controls (67%) and diminished progressively when eggs were exposed to pulsated (55%), sinusoidal (45%), and static (35%) magnetic fields.
D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D007814:Larva / Q000254:growth & development; D008280:Magnetics; D010058:Oviposition; D011679:Pupa / Q000254:growth & development