We investigated whether adult fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) use cues of larvae as social information in their food patch choice decisions. Adult male and female fruit flies showed attraction to odours emanating from foraging larvae, and females preferred to lay eggs on food patches occupied by larvae over similar unoccupied patches. Females learned and subsequently preferred to lay eggs...

A Drosophila Promoter Database containing 252 independent Drosophila melanogaster promoter entries has been compiled. The database and its subsets have been searched for overrepresented sequences. The analysis reveals that the proximal promoter region displays the most dramatic nucleotide sequence irregularities and exhibits a tripartite structure, consisting of TATA at -25/-30 bp, initiator (I...

The rapidly expanding availability of large NGS data sets provides an opportunity to investigate population genetics at an unprecedented scale. Drosophila simulans is the sister species of the model organism Drosophila melanogaster, and is often presumed to share similar demographic history. However, previous population genetic and ecological work suggests very different signatures of selection...

Gene exchange between species occurs in areas of secondary contact, where two species have the opportunity to hybridize. If heterospecific males are more common than conspecific males, females will experience more encounters with males of other species. These encounters might increase the likelihood of heterospecific matings, and lead to the production of hybrid progeny. I studied the mating be...

Holometabolous insects pass through a sedentary pupal stage and often choose a location for pupation that is different from the site of larval feeding. We have characterized a difference in pupariation site choice within and between sibling species of Drosophila. We found that, in nature, Drosophila sechellia pupariate within their host fruit, Morinda citrifolia, and that they perform this beha...

Many insect species subsist on decaying and contaminated matter and are thus exposed to large quantities of microorganisms. To control beneficial commensals and combat infectious pathogens, insects must be armed with efficient systems for microbial recognition, signaling pathways, and effector molecules. The molecular mechanisms regulating these host-microbe interactions in insects have been la...

In this work, I seek to model swarms of fruit flies, drosophila melanogaster, whose flights are characterized by straight flight segments interrupted by rapid turns called saccades. These flights are reminiscent of Levy-distributed randomwalks which are known to lead to efficient search behavior. I build two types of model for swarms of foraging fruit flies, whose behavior depends on swarm dens...

Wolbachia are intracellular bacterial symbionts that are able to protect various insect hosts from viral infections. This tripartite interaction was initially described in Drosophila melanogaster carrying wMel, its natural Wolbachia strain. wMel has been shown to be genetically polymorphic and there has been a recent change in variant frequencies in natural populations. We have compared the ant...

Native to Asia, the soft-skinned fruit pest Drosophila suzukii has recently invaded the United States and Europe. The eastern United States represents the most recent expansion of their range, and presents an opportunity to test alternative models of colonization history. Here, we investigate the genetic population structure of this invasive fruit fly, with a focus on the eastern United States....

Thank you, Haig, for the poignant introduction and kind words. I would also like to thank Jeff Murray, The American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG), the members of the Awards Committee, and especially Christopher Pearson. I first learned that I was the recipient of the 2013 Curt Stern Award from Christopher when I was on vacation with my family in San Francisco. I was pleasantly surprised and,...