Visual attraction in Drosophila larvae develops during a critical period and is modulated by crowding conditions.
The development of social behavior is poorly understood. Many animals adjust their behavior to environmental conditions based on a social context. Despite having relatively simple visual systems, Drosophila larvae are capable of identifying and are attracted to the movements of other larvae. Here, we show that Drosophila larval visual recognition is encoded by the movements of nearby larvae, experienced during a specific developmental critical period. Exposure to moving larvae, only during a specific period, is sufficient for later visual recognition of movement. Larvae exposed to wild-type body movements, during the critical period, are not attracted to the movements of tubby mutants, which have altered morphology. However, exposure to tubby, during the critical period, results in tubby recognition at the expense of wild-type recognition indicating that this is true learning. Visual recognition is not learned in excessively crowded conditions, and this is emulated by exposure, during the critical period, to food previously used by crowded larvae. We propose that Drosophila larvae have a distinct critical period, during which they assess both social and resource conditions, and that this irreversibly determines later visually guided social behavior. This model provides a platform towards understanding the regulation and development of social behavior.
Department of Biology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA.
Zoe
Z
Slepian
Department of Biology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA.
Kelsey
K
Sundby
Department of Biology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA.
Sarah
S
Glier
Department of Biology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA.
Jennifer
J
McDaniels
Department of Biology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA.
Taylor
T
Nystrom
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA.
Suvadip
S
Mukherjee
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA.
Scott T
ST
Acton
Department of Biology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA. condron@virginia.edu.
Barry
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2610-5065
B
Condron
D000367:Age Factors; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D003441:Crowding; D003463:Cues; D004330:Drosophila / Q000502:physiology; D007814:Larva / Q000502:physiology*; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D012919:Social Behavior; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000254:growth & development*
Behavior; Drosophila; Larva; Social