Fecal deposits reveal the fruit fly's pheromone flag

(RIKEN) Fruit flies have a rich language of smell messages that they exchange, but now their secret is out. In a report published Aug. 2 in Current Biology, scientists were able to tap into the communications among freely interacting flies using a bioluminescent technology to monitor their brain activity. They discovered that males signal their presence by placing droppings that act as a calling card for flies to find each other and even lure females to designated locations.
Source: EurekAlert! - Social and Behavioral Science - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: news