Fruit Fly Behavior Lab

Animal Behavior Taxis vs. Kinesis Chemotaxis Drosophila melanogaster

Background

What types of substances will elicit a chemotaxic response (+ or -) in fruit flies?

You will be required to test at least 3 different substances (your choice—you bring in)

Consider testing the following types of substances: Fruit juices Vinegars Food extracts

Hypothesis

You will set up a choice chamber using clear drinking straws and Qtips

Use water as a control vs. your experimental substances

Observe 10 flies for 2-3 minutes and record locations

Experimental Design

In class, you will be completing an “exit ticket” as a group before you leave

In your lab notebook, you will do a full write-up Graph results for each substance you test Perform chi-square analysis to support

claims of taxis vs. kinesis (kinesis – expect 5 flies on each end of straw)

Answer lab questions (next slide)

Results

1. In what ways could chemotaxis be advantageous to fruit flies?

2. Compare and contrast positive and negative chemotaxis, giving examples of each.

3. Based on the results of your experimentation, what types of behaviors would you expect from fruit flies in your kitchen at home?

Lab Questions