Ko-Fan Chen 陳克帆 (@kofanchen.drosophila.social.ap.brid.gy)

Alcohol makes male flies sexy A team of researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology has investigated why the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster drinks alcohol and has shown that alcohol has a direct and positive effect on the mating success of male flies. This effect is due to the increased production of sex pheromones after alcohol consumption, which makes males that have consumed alcohol more attractive to females. Male flies are therefore strongly attracted to alcohol, especially when they are not yet mated. Three different neural circuits in the flies' brains control the response when the flies smell alcohol: While two olfactory receptors are responsible for attracting male flies to small amounts of alcohol, a third ensures that excessive amounts have a deterrent effect. Because alcohol is toxic, the flies must carefully weigh the risks and benefits of drinking alcohol. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1078774