Natural mucin gels are ubiquitous in animals. They display remarkable physicochemical properties and play important roles such as engulfment of pathogens, cancer progression and adhesion. Yet our understanding of these biomaterials is currently limited because we lack a simple genetic system to manipulate and produce them. This project aims to use a new tractable model that we recently developed, the glue produced by Drosophila larvae, to investigate how mucins and glue secretion have evolved and adapted to various environments. We will characterize the diversity of glue adhesive properties of several Drosophila species in various conditions. We will also use available RNAi lines to uncover the role of the various glue components in the adhesive properties. Furthermore, we will identify the glue genes conferring very strong adhesion in certain Drosophila species using RNAseq and functional validation in D. melanogaster. Finally, we will study how glue secretion has changed from one gland to another during the evolution of Phoridae flies. Our work should provide original data on the molecular mechanisms underlying species adaptation and bioadhesion.