Male fruit flies that drink alcohol become more attractive to females, according to a new study.
Adding alcohol to males’ food increases their release of chemicals that attract females and leads to higher mating success.
Fruit flies, or Drosophila melanogaster, are often found around our food waste bins as they feed on rotting fruit which gradually produces alcohol.
Scientists have been trying to study why they are attracted to alcohol and how it affects them.
Previous research has studied different theories about this attraction, such as the flies were seeking a euphoric state or a substitute for the high of mating among males rejected by females.
Study author Bill Hansson, head of the Department of Evolutionary Neuroethology at the Max Planck Institute, said such research has taken an anthropomorphic view of fly behaviour, whereas this latest study suggests drinking alcohol gives the flies a reproductive advantage.
“We don’t think flies drink alcohol because they are depressed,” he said.
The fly’s attraction both to the carbohydrates and yeast in rotting fruit, as well as to the alcohol, cannot be separated, he added.
In the study, alcohol, and particularly methanol, increased the males’ production and release of chemical sex signals, called pheromones, which made them more attractive to females.
Pheromones are released into the air from one individual to influence the behaviour of another animal of the same species.
