Road to sexual maturity: Behavioral event schedule from eclosion to first mating in each sex of Drosophila melanogaster.

ABSTRACT: Animals achieve their first mating through the process of sexual maturation. This study examined the precise and detailed timing of a series of behavioral events, including wing expansion, first feeding, first excretion, and courtship, during sexual maturation from eclosion to first mating in D. melanogaster. We found that the time of first mating is genetically invariant and is not affected by light/dark cycle or food intake after eclosion. We also found sexual dimorphism in locomotor activity after eclosion, with females increasing locomotor activity earlier than males. In addition, we found a time rapidly changing from extremely low to high sexual activity in males post eclosion (named "drastic male courtship arousal" or DMCA). These behavioral traits leading up to the first mati

SUBMITTER: Seong KH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10448111 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature