Flies Play Too, Carousel Study Suggests
taylorvich writes:
https://phys.org/news/2025-02-flies-play-carousel.html
In a recent study, scientists at Leipzig University have for the first time demonstrated play-like behavior in flies. They found that fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) voluntarily and repeatedly visited a carousel.
"Until now, play-like behavior has mainly been described in vertebrates," says Professor Wolf Huetteroth, who led the study at the Institute of Biology at Leipzig University and recently moved to Northumbria University in Newcastle, England, as an associate professor. He and his colleagues have just published their findings in the journal Current Biology.
The play-like behavior of the flies described by the researchers, involving voluntary passive movements such as swinging, bobbing, sliding or turning, has now been demonstrated in insects for the first time. "This could help us to find out how we humans also develop efficient self-awareness of our bodies," explains Huetteroth.
In collaboration with Northumbria University, the researchers conducted a detailed analysis of how the flies interacted with the carousel. While many flies avoided the carousel, others visited it repeatedly and for long periods. When two carousels rotated alternately, the flies even actively followed the stimulation.
The scientists placed a total of 190 individual flies in a carousel arena, a glass dome about one centimeter high, and then filmed them for 3 to 14 days. The positions of the flies in the recordings were then automatically recognized and tracked using special software. Only a fraction of the data generated was included in the study.
More information: Tilman Triphan et al, Play-like behavior exhibited by the vinegar fly Drosophila melanogaster, Current Biology (2025).
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2025.01.025
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