The following is an excerpt from The Secret Life of Flies by Erica McAlister. The hirsute form of the male chocolate midge, Forcipomyia sp., which is essential for cocoa pollination. The pin obscures ...

They've got nice external genitalia for the boys… I don't know what else you want me to say " Well, here's the bad news: The chocolate midges are in danger, as farmers clear out shade-grown ...

(Watch the ancient art of chocolate-making.) Chocolate midge flies pollinate cacao trees of Central America, South America, Africa, and Asia. The insects are about one to three millimeters long ...

It’s a wonder we have chocolate at all. Talk about persnickety ... Instead, flies not much bigger than a poppy seed, in the biting midge subfamily Forcipomyiinae, crawl up into the hoods ...

Watch as our Diptera expert Dr Erica McAlister explains just how important flies can be as pollinators – especially for those partial to a bar of chocolate. A bite from a female fly in the family ...

Chocolate is derived from the seeds of the cacao ... Evidence suggests improving midge habitat can increase fruit yield. So, in some cacao-growing areas, current farming practices include ...

But did you know that if it wasn’t for a tiny insect called the chocolate midge, which pollinates cocoa flowers, there would be no chocolate bars? Or how about this: Fruit flies are essential to ...

Next, a photo of a modest black insect. The chocolate midge, Adam said, is the plant’s only pollinator. “We can hardly see the midge, and they don’t know we exist, but we’re still in this ...