Vinegar flies (Drosophila melanogaster) show a highly selective behavior towards odor stimuli. A series of behavioral studies showed that a single olfactory stimulus is often not sufficient for immediate attraction to potential food sources or oviposition sites. Interestingly, the behavior differed between investigated D. melanogaster varieties, so-called "wildtypes".

New York University biologists have mapped the medulla circuitry in fruit flies, setting the stage for subsequent research on how color vision is processed. The work, which appeared in the journal Current Biology, will allow future scholarship to explore how color vision is processed in the optic lobe of the fruit fly Drosophila, providing a paradigm for more complex systems in vertebrates.

A Brandeis University study published in Cell this week shows for the first time experimentally that the circadian cells in fruit flies function as a network that enables the insects to adapt their behavior according to seasonal changes. This discovery leads the way to understanding how mammals, and presumably humans, adjust physiology and behavior to environmental changes such as short winter days and long summer ones.