Objective To study the polarization and arrangement of epithelial cells in the embryonic development of drosophila. Methods A finite element model was established to simulate the development of drosophila egg, and an ABAQUS UMAT user subroutine that describes the growth of materials was developed. The developmental process of the stages 8 (S8) to the initial state of the stage 10 (S10) was simulated， and the direction of principal stress and the distribution of the in-plane maximum shear stress (MSS) in the epithelial cell layer was analyzed, in order to predict the polarization and arrangement of the epithelial cells. Results The orientation of the epithelial cells was consistent with the direction of the maximum principal stress, and the aspect ratio of cells was proportional to the magnitude of the MSS. Conclusions The polarization and arrangement of the epithelial cells are controlled by the stress state in the tissues.