Male courtship behavior
Male courtship, one of the most extensively studied
behaviors in Drosophila, is a complex innate behavior
that involves multiple sensory modalities, such as
vision, contact chemosensation, and audition [4,5].
Courtship consists of a sequence of six sub-behaviors,
two of which provide pheromone input (Figure 2). The
second courtship step involves ‘tapping’, in which the
male receives pheromone cues by tapping his forelegs,
which are covered with chemosensory bristles, onto the
female’s abdomen. The ‘pheromone image’ — or scent
of the female — is completed in the fourth step, when
the male ‘licks’ the female’s genital region with his