The survival advantage of olfaction in a competitive environment.
Olfaction is generally assumed to be critical for survival because this sense allows animals to detect food and pheromonal cues. Although the ability to sense sex pheromones [1, 2, 3] is likely to be important for insects, the contribution of general odor detection to survival is unknown. We investigated the extent to which the olfactory system confers a survival advantage on Drosophila larvae foraging for food under conditions of limited resources and competition from other larvae.
Asahina
Kenta
K
Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, New York 10065, USA.
Pavlenkovich
Viktoryia
V
Vosshall
Leslie B
LB
D000818:Animals; D003163:Competitive Behavior; D003463:Cues; D004330:Drosophila / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D007814:Larva / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D009154:Mutation; D009812:Odorants; D011156:Population Density; D018035:Receptors, Odorant / Q000235:genetics; D012903:Smell / Q000502:physiology*
D029721:Drosophila Proteins; C492465:Orco protein, Drosophila; D018035:Receptors, Odorant