They seem to be very simple beings. But at some levels, they are not so much. Flies can play, according to scientists from the University of Leipzig. During the experiment, they voluntarily and repeatedly visited a guyvive.
“A behavior similar to game had only been described mainly in vertebrates,” the researchers indicate. PUBLASSRON YOUR FINDINGS IN THE MAGAZINE CURRENT BIOLOGY.
What implies the behavior similar to the flies described by the researchers? Voluntary passive movements such as balance, slide or turn. Now it has been demonstrated for the first time in insects. “It would help to know how humans also develop an efficient self -consciousness of our body,” they explain in a statement.
Carousel
In collaboration with the University of Northumbria, the researchers conducted a detailed analysis of how flies interacted with the ethyvive. While many flies avoided carousel, others visited him repeatedly and for long periods. When two carousels turned alternately, flies even actively continued stimulation.
The scientists placed a total of 190 individual fruit flies in a carousel enclosure. It is a glass dome of approximately one centimeter high. Then they filmed them for 3 to 14 days. Flip positions in recordings were then automatically recognized and tracked by special software. Only a fraction of the generated data was included in the study.
«We use several carousels. We generate and analyze a total of about seven years of filming data, ”says Dr. Tilman Triphan, the first author of the study.
THE POWER OF THE GAME
This effort was necessary. Unlike most flies behavior experiments, researchers had to trust the voluntary behavior of insects. There was not enough space under the glass dome so that the flies would fly to the carousel.
«However, we were able to distinguish whether the flies had deliberately walked towards the uncle. Or if they had jumped on him in an uncoordinated way. This allowed us to demonstrate that unplanned visits to the ethical were quite atypical for the flies they played.
What implies the finding that flies can play? Promote a detailed investigation of the underlying genetic, neuronal and biochemical factors that influence the recreational behavior of the fruit fly. And also the benefits that this has for playful creatures in general.
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