Their enemy's sex pheromone helps flies protect their offspring
Thursday, December 17, 2015 - 11:50
in Biology & Nature
In nature, up to 80 percent of Drosophila larvae are parasitized by parasitic wasps. However, an innate warning system alerts female flies when wasps are near and increases the larvae's survival rate. Researchers identified the olfactory neuron in Drosophila which senses their enemies. Wasp odors, including their sex pheromone, trigger avoidance behavior in Drosophila. For the first time scientists described an olfactory circuit entirely dedicated to the detection of a fatal enemy.