In exploring a fly’s choice of a mate, researchers track the neural circuits that bridge sensory perception and behavioral action

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Rockfeller University
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If you’ve ever found a banana overtaken by a swarm of tiny flies, you were in fact witnessing an orgy of amorous Drosophila melanogaster. These trespassers engage in fervent courtship and mating atop ripe fruits, and the sex is anything but casual. In particular, male flies are very precise in choosing whom to court—a complex and intuitive decision that has fascinated scientists for more than a century.