Wooing Fruit Flies

It’s common practice for animals to woo their partners through song – like us making a playlist of love songs. The male fruit fly is no exception – by vibrating his wings, he makes a type of song that attracts females and also signals other males to start competing for a mate. But how do the other files understand this? Scientists have identified a type of cell in male fly brains (in green) that provides a crucial link between their antennae, which detect sound vibrations, and an area in the brain that integrates courtship sounds with other mating signs like pheromones. Based on these cues, the brain realises it’s time to begin courtship and thus competition for a mate begins. While it may seem strange to care about the courting rituals of fruit flies, these experiments show us how our primal behaviours are ultimately dictated by what we hear, see and feel.

Written by Gaëlle Coullon

Gaëlle Coullon

Writer

Gaëlle is a consultant and trainer in research communication and commercialisation. As an ex-neuroscientist, she is always looking for new ways to combine her love of writing with everything brain related.

• Image from work by Chuan Zhou and colleagues
• Howard Hughes Medical Institute, USA
• Originally published under a Creative Commons Licence (BY 4.0)
• Published in eLife, September 2015