Tag Archives: Sexuality

Vinegar fly: Alcoholic males are more attractive to females

By | April 3, 2025
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Credits: Anna Schroll, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology

A research team from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology has shown that alcohol in food increases the production of sex pheromones in male black-bellied fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster), making them more attractive to females. Male flies are therefore strongly attracted to alcohol, especially when they are still unmated. Three different neural circuits in the flies' brains control this response when… Read more »

Evolution without sex: How mites have survived for millions of years

By | January 27, 2025
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Credits: Dr. Mark Maraun, Dr. Katja Wehner

An international research team has discovered various mechanisms in asexual mites that generate genetic diversity and thus ensure survival. Researchers at the University of Cologne, together with colleagues from international partner institutions, have used modern genome sequencing techniques to investigate asexual reproduction in oribatid mites in more detail. They show that the possible key to asexual evolution in oribatid mites lies in the independent… Read more »