Male fruit fly courting a female fruit fly

As part of a complex courtship behavior, male flies vibrate their wings to produce a distinctive song that conveys a message to nearby females. Using internal information and cues from females and the environment, males decide moment to moment whether to sing and how.
This shows video and audio of a male fruit fly courting a female fruit fly and producing two courtship songs (pulse and sine). The audio trace at the bottom indicates which song type is being produced.
Credit: Joshua Lillvis / HHMI Janelia Research Campus