Deciphering Drosophila female innate behaviors

• Published in: Current opinion in neurobiology 2018-10, Vol.52, p.139-148
• Main Authors: Aranha, Márcia M, Vasconcelos, Maria Luísa
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0959-4388; 1873-6882
• DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2018.06.005

•Female sexual behavior and egg-laying are composed of numerous behavioral modules.•Mating decisions rely on the analysis of courtship song features such as the bout duration.•Fertilized females are highly selective regarding egg-laying site preference.•Egg-laying decisions rely on substrate, internal, social and predator cues. Innate responses are often sexually dimorphic. Studies of female specific behaviors have remained niche, but the focus is changing as illustrated by the recent progress in understanding the female courtship responses and egg-laying decisions. In this review, we will cover our current knowledge about female behaviors in these two specific contexts. Recent studies elucidate on how females process the courtship song. They also show that egg-laying decisions are extremely complex, requiring the assessment of food, microbial, predator and social cues. Study of female responses will improve our understanding of how a nervous system processes different challenges.