The Lesser Fruit Fly (Drosophila melanogaster), also known as the vinegar fly, the pomace fly, the common fruit fly, or simply the fruit fly, is a species of fly in the family Drosophilidae which was originally endemic to Africa but has since spread to every continent on earth with the sole exception of Antarctica as well as nearly every island on earth. They are found in a wide variety of habitats and are only really limited due to temperature and availability of water. As the name implies, the fruit flies feed primarily on fruit as well as vegetables, and the leaves, flowers, and stems of various plants. They are themselves eaten by a wide variety of other insects, arachnids, crustaceans, fish, carnivorous plants, amphibians, birds, reptiles, and small mammals. The fruit fly is normally a yellow brown (tan) color, and is only about 3 mm in length and 2 mm in width. The shape of the common fruit fly's body is what one would normally imagine for a species of the order Diptera. It has a rounded head with large, red, compound eyes; three smaller simple eyes, and short antennae. Its mouth has developed for sopping up liquids, and has a chitinous exoskeleton comprised of three main body segments, a single pair of wings, and three pairs of segmented legs. The female is slightly larger than the male. There are black stripes on the dorsal surface of its abdomen, which can be used to determine the sex of an individual, with males having darker stripes. Reproduction in Drosophila is rapid and year round. A single pair of flies can produce hundreds of offspring within a couple of weeks, and the offspring become sexually mature within one week. The female lays dozens of eggs at a time which she places on fruit, these soon hatch into fly larvae (maggots), which instantly start consuming the fruit on which they were laid. Under ideal conditions a lesser fruit fly may live 3-4 months.