Why does the fruit fly have 23 times longer sperm than the body?

For a long time, people still debate whether size is important for female individuals. Biologists are now assertive, the answer is yes, at least in the case of fruit flies.

The special thing about fruit flies is that their sperm are "unusually" unusually large. Specifically, the sperm of this insect is about 5.8 cm long, which is nearly 23 times their body length.

At the same size, fruit fly sperm is even 1,100 times longer than the "seed" of humans. If a man with sperm had the same ratio as his body as a " fruit fly " , his "seed" would have to be nearly 42.7 meters long.

This fact scientists have known for a long time. They even know that sperm cells fit into the body of the fruit flies by being tightly packed like a wool roll . However, they still wonder why such a small insect possesses a "breed" that is too big for the body.

Sperm fits in the female fruit flies by being tightly rolled like a wool roll.

In other animals, sperm production is like a lottery game. The more male individuals produce more sperm, ie more lottery tickets, the chance of winning, in this case the more successful the fertilization of eggs.

One long-held theory is that longer sperm is usually not as healthy as the shorter sperm, so the "big" size is not good for males.

However, in the case of fruit flies, it all seems to depend on the female, on what they want. According to a new study published in Nature, it all involves how female flies have genetically evolved the body to receive the largest and best breeds from male fruit flies.

Over time, female flies have encouraged the production of larger sperm by developing themselves a larger container to store " seed" for subsequent fertilization. Smaller sperm are often pushed out when flies mate misconduct with many other males.

Researcher Scot Pitnick, a professor of biology at Syracuse University (USA), said that for males, longer sperm means less sperm, but then, only fish The best quality male body can produce enough sperm to compete for reproduction.