SELECTIVE MATING AND EYE PIGMENTATION: AN ANALYSIS OF THE VISUAL COMPONENT IN THE COURTSHIP BEHAVIOR OF<i>DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER</i>

Connolly, Kevin; Burnet, Barrie; Sewell, David

doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.1969.tb03540.x

Cited by 48 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Furthermore, some species, such as D. melanogaster, also exhibit sexually dimorphic pigmentation: the dorsal abdomen of males are darkly pigmented whereas in females, pigmentation is restricted to a posterior stripe on each abdominal segment (Williams et al, 2008). Past efforts to assess whether differences in pigmentation could affect sexual selection are difficult to interpret because they relied on mutations in pigmentation genes that have many pleiotropic effects on behavior (Anaka et al, 2008;Connolly et al, 1969;Kopp et al, 2000;Takahashi, 2013;True, 2003;Wittkopp and Beldade, 2009). For example, ebony mutants demonstrate impaired phototactic and optomotor responses, abnormal circadian rhythms, and deficient dopamine signaling (reviewed in Takahashi, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of target contrast on Drosophila courtship

Agrawal

Dickinson

2019

Journal of Experimental Biology

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Many animals use visual cues such as object shape, color and motion to detect and pursue conspecific mates. Contrast is another possibly informative visual cue, but has not been studied in great detail. In this study, we presented male Drosophila melanogaster with small, flysized, moving objects painted either black, white or gray to test whether they use contrast cues to identify mates. We found that males frequently chased gray objects and rarely chased white or black objects. Although males started chasing black objects as often as gray objects, the resulting chases were much shorter. To test whether the attraction to gray objects was mediated via contrast, we fabricated black and gray behavioral chambers. However, wild-type males almost never chased any objects in these darkly colored chambers. To circumvent this limitation, we increased baseline levels of chasing by thermogenetically activating P1 neurons to promote courtship. Males with thermogenetically activated P1 neurons maintained a similar preference for gray objects despite elevated levels of courtship behavior. When placed in a black chamber, males with activated P1 neurons switched their preference and chased black objects more than gray objects. We also tested whether males use contrast cues to orient to particular parts of the female's body during courtship. When presented with moving objects painted two colors, males positioned themselves next to the gray half regardless of whether the other half was painted black or white. These results suggest that males can use contrast to recognize potential mates and to position themselves during courtship.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of target contrast on Drosophila courtship

Agrawal

Dickinson

2019

Journal of Experimental Biology

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“…This approach requires a systematic analysis of the influence on male courtship behavior of the various sensory inputs. While a wealth of results describes the impact of gustatory [19]–[24], olfactory [16], [25]–[28] and visual [29]–[32] cues on male courtship behavior, few studies have examined the impact of their integration on courtship [17], [33], [34].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sensory Integration Regulating Male Courtship Behavior in Drosophila

2009

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The courtship behavior of Drosophila melanogaster serves as an excellent model system to study how complex innate behaviors are controlled by the nervous system. To understand how the underlying neural network controls this behavior, it is not sufficient to unravel its architecture, but also crucial to decipher its logic. By systematic analysis of how variations in sensory inputs alter the courtship behavior of a naïve male in the single-choice courtship paradigm, we derive a model describing the logic of the network that integrates the various sensory stimuli and elicits this complex innate behavior. This approach and the model derived from it distinguish (i) between initiation and maintenance of courtship, (ii) between courtship in daylight and in the dark, where the male uses a scanning strategy to retrieve the decamping female, and (iii) between courtship towards receptive virgin females and mature males. The last distinction demonstrates that sexual orientation of the courting male, in the absence of discriminatory visual cues, depends on the integration of gustatory and behavioral feedback inputs, but not on olfactory signals from the courted animal. The model will complement studies on the connectivity and intrinsic properties of the neurons forming the circuitry that regulates male courtship behavior.

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“…These results indicate that the oculomotor system had access to information about the position of the rotated eye in its orbit before there had been any visual experience. Information about eye position must have been obtained from nonvisual, proprioceptive sources (7).…”

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confidence: 99%

Spatial Localization After Strabismus Surgery: Evidence for Inflow

Steinbach

Smith

1981

Science

115

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Strabismics pointed to targets (without sight of the hand) before and again after surgery that altered the position of the deviating eye in its orbit. Patients having this surgery for the first time were able to use proprioceptively derived information about the surgically altered eye position. In contrast, patients who had similar operations, but on muscles that had been operated on one or more times in the past, were apparently deprived of this information. The important afference may be supplied by the tendon organs.

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SELECTIVE MATING AND EYE PIGMENTATION: AN ANALYSIS OF THE VISUAL COMPONENT IN THE COURTSHIP BEHAVIOR OFDROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER

Cited by 48 publications

References 17 publications

The effects of target contrast on Drosophila courtship

The effects of target contrast on Drosophila courtship

Sensory Integration Regulating Male Courtship Behavior in Drosophila

Spatial Localization After Strabismus Surgery: Evidence for Inflow

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