Courtship-Like Tracking Behaviour in Wild-Type Female Drosophila melanogaster

Abstract

Abstract Both male and female Drosophila melanogaster possess systems which enable them to track other walking flies visually. Males use this system predominantly in courtship; females, when of sufficient age but still unmated, have been observed to track other flies, at rates of up to 18 bouts per hour. This behaviour is most conveniently studied in groups of females. Although similar to the courtship tracking of males, fem ale/female tracking lacks the “circling” component of courtship. The data suggest a functional relationship of female/female tracking to reproductive behaviour, although none has yet been identified. Bouts of tracking by females are most frequently terminated by the following female, especially when the target female remains motionless. Comparison of the tracking parameters of males and females has revealed differences in the velocity and pathlength of tracking bouts, and in the position of the fly with respect to the target. Males of Canton and Kapelle strains differ in the translatory component of their courtship tracking, but such a difference was not evident between females of these strains. Furthermore, tracking females do not allow their distance to the target to rise to that permissible in males, which suggests some sex-specificity in a part of the control system for tracking.