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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2013 Sep 24.
Published in final edited form as: Drug Discov Today Technol. 2012 Sep 24;10(1):e129–e136. doi: 10.1016/j.ddtec.2012.09.005

Figure 1. Drosophila courtship behavior.

Figure 1

Adult males will perform an innate stereotypic behavior to entice receptive females to mate. This courtship ritual involves seven basic steps that are generally performed in the order presented in the figure. The courtship starts by the male orienting toward the female and following her. The male then taps the female to pick up pheromonal cues and then initiates “singing” by extending and vibrating a wing. The male then licks the female abdomen and if the female displays receptive behavior he will attempt and if successful initiate copulation.