Honors Program
Date of this Version
5-2023
Document Type
Thesis
Citation
Caliandro, E. 2023. Comparative Video Analysis of Drosophila Fly Courtship. Undergraduate Honors Thesis. University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Abstract
This thesis was meant to establish quantitative data on the courtship behaviors of 12 species from the 99 genomic known species from the Drosophila genus. Video recordings of the interactions between male and female fly species were observed and analyzed through the use of BORIS software. The video analysis was then used to compare behaviors of front-facing, back-facing, courtship duration, and wing-use between each of the species. From there, comparisons are made between both the published literature and our observations and data to help explain the cues that occur during courtship, especially those that are front-facing and those that were back-facing. The experiment aimed to establish a manual input baseline to observe courtship behaviors of Drosophila flies, where this manual data collection will serve as a reference in the near future for comparison with a computer-assisted program that recognizes behaviors through video tracking using orientation, animal pose estimation, and wing movement. Additionally, our experiment aimed to observe different conspecific courtship behaviors potentially influenced by visual, olfactory, or auditory cues that can affect the mating ritual's success. The experiment's main goal was to identify the most significant cues that correlate front-facing and back-facing courtship behavior across our species of fly.
Comments
Copyright Emmanuel Caliandro 2023