A versatile maze for learning and geotaxic selection in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Drosophila melanogaster </Emphasis>

Behavior geneticists have long sought to display learning in the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster), but previous research efforts have proven problematic. The following describes a maze apparatus and a procedural technique that have produced positive results in learning tasks with negative geotaxis flies. The Plexiglas maze is inexpensive to construct and offers a functional versatility that makes it adaptable to many different experimental applications.