Insects // Current

Minuscule Dragonflies Bully other Insects [video]

If the previous video wasn't enough to make you laugh, then this one will do the... more

GrrlScientist
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Minuscule Ladybug Bombs Dragonflies [video]

this sweet video will make you smile:... more

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Students study beetle kill from the sky

Local conservationist and pilot Bruce Gordon gave up on politicians when former... more

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Going chemical-free in your clothing is getting easier

Your clothes may have a chemical-dependency problem. The cotton in your shirt was... more

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United Kingdom Talk Video Saturday 3rd October 2009

Saturday's edition of my three times a week talk show.Watch the show here on CURRENT... more

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Fruit fly sperm makes females do housework after sex

The surprise discovery was made by Professor Elwyn Isaac from the University of Leeds' Faculty of Biological Sciences when investigating the marked differences in sleeping patterns between virgin and mated females.

Both male and female fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) – commonly seen hovering around rotting fruit and vegetables - are active at dawn and dusk, and have a deep sleep at night. They also exhibit a marked 'resting state' during the afternoon, which Professor Isaac likens to a siesta that conserves the fly's energy and reduces damaging exposure to the sun during hot afternoons.

"However, we noted that after mating, females still slept deeply at night, but ditched the usual siesta in favour of extra foraging and searching for places to lay her eggs," he says. "This behaviour lasts for around eight days – and our research findings suggest that this change is not by choice. Females who mated with males that produced sperm without the sex peptide continued to take their siesta. So we're certain that this change of behaviour is chemically induced by the male."

"Sleep is an ancient and essential mechanism in living creatures from worms to humans, so to inhibit this for such a long period and replace it with extra activity that exposes the female to environmental hazards and danger from predators must require a powerful mechanism," he says.

The sex peptide is produced in the males' accessory glands (the equivalent of the human prostate gland) and attaches itself to the surface of the sperm's tail. Previous research studies have shown that the sex peptide encourages females to increase egg production - a mated female will lay up to 100 eggs a day compared with 1-2 eggs laid by a virgin female. It also inhibits her from mating with other males for around a week to ten days.

"It would appear that preventing sleep and inducing extra domestic-type duties to prepare for the birth of offspring in females is a further tactic used by the male to ensure successful paternity after mating," says Professor Isaac.The surprise discovery was made by Professor Elwyn Isaac from the University of Leeds'... more