Data from: Dissection of signaling modalities and courtship timing reveals a novel signal in Drosophila saltans courtship

Courtship signalling, necessary for the recognition of potential mates, is often complex, using many modalities with multiple components. Drosophila courtship comprises chemical, tactile, visual and acoustic stimuli. Ablation of single sensory channels, either signal production or reception, can determine the roles of individual modalities in overall reproductive success. Adding measures of courtship timing, particularly courtship latency, the time for the male to initiate courtship, and courtship duration, the time from courtship initiation until the female accepts the male for copulation, allows us to identify the stage of courtship at which a signal acts. This study focuses on Drosophila saltans, a member of the saltans species group. Little is known about sexual behaviour of species in this group, part of the Sophophora subgenus. In the present study, we found that ablation of any one signal in D. saltans did not eliminate mating, thus courtship is multimodal. In addition to examining the signals and signal reception common to most Drosophila species, we also examined the role that the midtarsi play in courtship. The removal of the female's midtarsi significantly reduced mating occurrence. Using timing data, we discerned that the absence of midtarsi in the female did not affect the male's ability to identify the female as a potential mate, but the male may be unable to sufficiently stimulate the female to copulation. Measuring courtship latency and courtship duration, as well as the occurrence of courtship and copulation, allowed us to determine whether a particular signal plays a role in activating the male to initiate courtship or stimulating the female to mate.

求偶信号（Courtship signalling）是识别潜在配偶的必要环节，其过程通常较为复杂，依托多模态渠道且包含多重组分。果蝇（Drosophila）的求偶行为涵盖化学、触觉、视觉与听觉刺激。单独阻断单一感官通道——无论是信号产生还是信号接收环节——均可用于明确各模态在整体生殖成功中的具体作用。通过引入求偶时序相关指标，尤其是求偶潜伏期（courtship latency，即雄性启动求偶所需的时长）与求偶时长（courtship duration，即从求偶启动至雌性接受雄性完成交配的时长），我们能够定位信号发挥作用的求偶阶段。本研究以盐斯果蝇（Drosophila saltans）为研究对象，该物种隶属于盐斯物种组，作为 Sophophora亚属（Sophophora subgenus）的类群，该组物种的性行为模式目前尚鲜有研究。本研究发现，在盐斯果蝇中阻断任意单一信号均不会完全阻断交配行为，由此证实其求偶过程具备多模态特征。除了针对多数果蝇共有的信号与信号接收通路展开研究外，我们还探究了中跗节（midtarsi）在求偶过程中的作用。移除雌性个体的中跗节会显著降低交配发生概率。通过时序数据分析，我们发现雌性缺失中跗节并不会影响雄性识别其为潜在配偶的能力，但雄性可能无法充分刺激雌性完成交配。通过测定求偶潜伏期、求偶时长，以及求偶与交配的发生情况，我们可明确特定信号是否参与激活雄性启动求偶，或是刺激雌性完成交配。