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Behavioural neuroscience

Fruity aphrodisiacs

Nature volume 478, pages 190–191 (2011)Cite this article

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Some fruit odours sexually arouse male fruitflies. The response is mediated by olfactory neurons that are sensitive to food smells and plug into the brain's neural circuit for sexual behaviour. See Letter p.236

The smell of a delicious stew often stimulates a man's appetite, but it rarely turns him on. Male Drosophila fruitflies, however, behave differently. On page 236 of this issue, Grosjean et al.1 identify how particular odours from rotten fruit and decaying vegetables — the creatures' typical diet — act as aphrodisiacs to male fruitflies.

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Figure 1: When neurons meet.
Figure 2: Romantic setting.

R. WILLIAMS/NATURE PICTURE LIBRARY

References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Benjamin Prud'homme and Nicolas Gompel are at Aix-Marseille University, Institut de Biologie du Développement de Marseille-Luminy, CNRS UMR 6216, Case 907, Parc Scientifique de Luminy, 13288 Marseille Cedex 9, France.,

    Benjamin Prud'homme & Nicolas Gompel

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  1. Benjamin Prud'homme
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  2. Nicolas Gompel
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Correspondence to Benjamin Prud'homme or Nicolas Gompel.

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Prud'homme, B., Gompel, N. Fruity aphrodisiacs. Nature 478, 190–191 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/478190a

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