The Reproductive Behaviour of Gynandromorphic Drosophila melanogaster

Gynandromorphs, Courtship, D. melanogaster, Fate Maps, Oviposition Reproductive behaviour was studied in 192 gynandromorphs with female genitalia and reproduc­ tive system, produced by ring-X chromosome loss. Male and female behaviour patterns were frequently found to coexist in the same individuals, and male courtship behaviour, when it oc­ curred, retained its characteristic hierarchical organisation. Sexually receptive individuals were found to be an almost perfect subset of those ovipositing, and the control of both of these behav­ iours mapped to the head, as did male orientation (courtship). High rates of wing flicking, a response of males to courtship, mapped rather to the thorax, although a quantitative analysis demonstrated that the frequency of flicking behaviour was also influenced by male tissue in the head. In non-ovipositing individuals mature oocytes were retained in the ovary. An egg held in the uterus is not deposited by a fly without female tissue in the head and all but one sexually receptive individuals laid eggs. It is therefore concluded that both of these behaviours depend upon closely related neural circuitry operating the genital musculature under control from the brain.