Fruit flies adjust their courtship song based on distance
Wednesday, February 3, 2016 - 12:42
in Biology & Nature
Outside of humans, the ability to adjust the intensity of acoustic signals with distance has only been identified in songbirds. Research published Feb. 3, 2016 in Neuron now demonstrates that the male fruit fly also displays this complex behavior during courtship, adjusting the amplitude of his song depending on how far away he is from a female. Studying this process in the fruit fly can help shed light on the building blocks for social interactions across the animal kingdom.