Fly on a Rod

To study how both the structure of an animal’s body and the workings of its mind both contribute to complex behaviors, researchers at UCLA tether fruit flies, Drosophila melanogaster, to thin steel rods to observe their flight in controlled conditions. The flies, like the one pictured here, adopt a flight posture, tucking in their legs (akin to retracting their landing gear) and beating their wings. The researchers suspend the flies in a "virtual reality" arena. By optically tracking wing motions and using an electronic wraparound display, the setup allows the fly to steer through its visual surroundings as if in free flight. Led by Mark Frye, the researchers have a website here.

Credit: Mark Frye, UCLA

• Flight of the Fly
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