Do Fly’s Have Sex?
WouterIn order to understand whether or not flies have sex, we need to first understand the underlying mechanisms that regulate the fly reproductive tract. The male fly produces a protein called sex peptide, which binds to the cells of the reproductive tract, influencing the female to behave in certain ways. The peptide’s effect lasts for about seven to ten days.
Interestingly, the flies also enjoy ejaculation, which is the process of releasing sperm. This is despite the difficulty of measuring sexual pleasure in flies. Instead, they are able to measure pleasure indirectly through a molecule in the brain.
To conduct the study, researchers recorded 9,000 houseflies over four years. During the study, they discovered that flies paired up in a non-flight mode were inconspicuous to bats, while those in the copulation mode increased the chance of being attacked by bats by 26 percent.
Scientists have long debated the role of the ovipositor in determining sex in flies. The study published in Current Biology shed light on the organ’s function in the transition between courtship and copulation. The ovipositor, also known as the egg-laying gland, was found to be an important part of fruit flies’ reproductive cycle.
The male flies’ genital opening is located at the bottom of the abdomen, and the female inserts her ovipositor into it. The female then releases her eggs through this tube. The sperm travels through the female’s reproductive tract and fertilizes the eggs within 30 to two hours.
