Sensory neuroecology and multimodal evolution across the genus Drosophila

Abstract

The neural basis and genetic mechanisms for sensory evolution are increasingly being explored in depth across many closely related members of the Drosophila genus. This has, in part, been achieved due to the immense efforts toward adapting gene-editing technologies for additional, non-model species. Studies targeting both peripheral sensory variations, as well as interspecies divergence in coding or neural connectivity, have generated numerous, tangible examples of how and where the evolution of sensory-driven animal behavior has occurred. Here, we review and discuss studies that each aim to identify the neurobiological and genetic components of sensory system evolution to provide a comparative overview of the types of functional variations observed across both perceptual input and behavioral output. In addition, we examined the roles neuroecology and neuroevolution play in speciation events, such as courtship and intraspecies communication, as well as those aspects related to behavioral divergence in host navigation or egg-laying preferences. Through the investigation of comparative, large-scale trends and correlations across diverse, yet closely related species within this highly ecologically variable genus of flies, we can begin to describe the underlying pressures, mechanisms, and constraints that have guided sensory and nervous system evolution within the natural environments of these organisms.

Multimodal interactions in Stomoxys navigation reveals synergy between olfaction and vision

“…melanogaster is able to detect wavelengths of red light [71]. In support of our finding electroretinographic recordings from stable flies showed strong peaks of visual sensitivities occurring around 605-635 nm, which is red color zone and at UV zone [72,73].This may necessitate to make some adjustment in our future behavioral experiments that uses red light to simulate darkness [74]. Other researchers also demonstrated the wide color preference of stable flies, for instance [75] demonstrated that white coroplast, and even gray ones, were more attractive to Stomoxys than blue coroplasts.…”