Long-term memory formation in Drosophila melanogaster is an important neuronal function shaping the insect's behavioral repertoire by allowing an individual to modify behaviors on the basis of previous experiences. In conditioned courtship or courtship suppression, male flies that have been repeatedly rejected by mated females during courtship advances are less likely than naïve males to subseq...

Over the past 35 years, developmental geneticists have made impressive progress toward an understanding of how genes specify morphology and function, particularly as they relate to the specification of each physical component of an organism. In the last 20 years, male courtship behavior in Drosophila melanogaster has emerged as a robust model system for the study of genetic specification of beh...

We investigated possible interactions between melatonin and corticosterone in modulating the reproductive behavior of male red-sided garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis) following spring emergence. We also examined whether melatonin's modulatory actions could be explained by its potential properties as a serotonin receptor antagonist. Exogenous corticosterone significantly reduced cou...

Luminescent signals can be used by animals for a number of purposes, including courtship and defense, sometimes by the same individual. However, the relative costs of producing these different behaviors are largely unknown. In the marine ostracod Photeros annecohenae, males utilize extracellular luminescence for complex courtship displays, and both males and females luminesce as a predation def...

After Drosophila males are rejected by mated females, their subsequent courtship is inhibited even when encountering virgin females. Molecular mechanisms underlying courtship conditioning in the CNS are unclear. In this study, we find that tyramine β hydroxylase (TβH) mutant males unable to synthesize octopamine (OA) showed impaired courtship conditioning, which could be rescued by transgenic T...

Female decision rules can influence the nature and intensity of sexual selection on males, but empirical demonstrations of rules underlying choice are rare. We hypothesized that female choice is largely based on a courtship duration threshold in the Australian redback spider (Latrodectus hasselti) because females kill males before copulation is complete (premature cannibalism) and reduce their ...

BACKGROUND Courtship is the best-studied behavior in Drosophila melanogaster, and work on its anatomical basis has concentrated mainly on the functional identification of sexually dimorphic sites in the brain. Much less is known of the more expansive, nondimorphic, but nonetheless essential, neural elements subserving male courtship behavior. RESULTS Sites in the CNS mediating initiation and ...

Behavioral flexibility and behavioral regulation through courtship signals may both contribute to mating success. Blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus) form precopulatory pairs after courtship periods that are influenced by female and perhaps male urine-based chemical signals. In this study, male and female crabs were observed in 1.5-m circular outdoor pools for 45 min while the occurrence and seque...

Finding a mating partner is a critical task for many organisms. It is in the interest of males to employ multiple sensory modalities to search for females. In Drosophila melanogaster, vision is thought to be the most important courtship stimulating cue at long distance, while chemosensory cues are used at relatively short distance. In this report, we show that when visual cues are not available...