Sciara as an experimental model for studies on the evolutionary relationships between the zygotic, maternal and environmental primary signals for sexual development.

Sex determination refers to the developmental programme that commits the embryo to either the male or the female pathway. There are a plethora of mechanisms via which gender is decided. These mechanisms can be classified into three main categories depending on the origin of the primary, genetic, sex-determination signal, which can be zygotic, maternal or environmental. In the dipteran Sciara, the zygotic signal is a consequence of the maternal signal, and this in turn can be a consequence of the environmental signal. This makes Sciara a unique experimental model for studying the evolutionary relationships between the three primary signals triggering sexual development.