[PRBuzz]

When Fruit Flies Don't Get Sex, They Drink More Alcohol

In the first test, the researchers measured how the flies respond to sexual rejection. One group of flies (#1) were allowed to mate as much as possible with virgin females for a six-hour session each day for four days. The other group (#2) faced sexual rejection by non-virgin females for an hour a day over four days. In response to this rejection, the males no longer wanted to mate, even when they shared a space with virgin females.

Furthermore, these males drank more alcohol than their sexually satisfied counterparts. In the experiment, both satisfied and rejected males were placed in a container with two capillaries—one containing a sugary drink and the other a cocktail of sugar and 15% ethanol. The sexually satisfied males drank equally from both tubes; the sexually deprived males drank more from the ethanol-infused one.