DOI: 10.5061/dryad.k74670v
title: Data from: The effects of target contrast on Drosophila courtship

description: Many animals use visual cues like object shape, color, and motion to
 detect and pursue conspecific mates. Contrast is another possibly
 informative visual cue, but has not been studied in great detail. In this
 study, we presented male Drosophila melanogaster with small, fly-sized,
 moving objects painted either black, white, or grey to test if they use
 contrast cues to identify mates. We found that males frequently chased
 grey objects and rarely chased white or black objects. Although males
 started chasing black objects as often as grey objects, the resulting
 chases were much shorter. To test whether the attraction to grey objects
 was mediated via contrast, we fabricated black and grey behavioral
 chambers. However, wildtype males almost never chased any objects in these
 darkly colored chambers. To circumvent this limitation, we increased
 baseline levels of chasing by thermogenetically activating P1 neurons to
 promote courtship. Males with thermogenetically activated P1 neurons
 maintained a similar preference for grey objects despite elevated levels
 of courtship behavior. When placed in a black chamber, males with
 activated P1 neurons switched their preference and chased black objects
 more than grey objects. We also tested whether males use contrast cues to
 orient to particular parts of the female body during courtship. When
 presented with moving objects painted two colors, males positioned
 themselves next to the grey half regardless of whether the other half was
 painted black or white. These results suggest that males can use contrast
 to recognize potential mates and to position themselves during courtship.
description: Tracked data files,
 females glued on magnetsData from males flies
 paired with virgin females glued on magnets. *.m files, with the following
 data structs: fly (position and orientation of fly during the trial),
 robot (position and orientation of robot), chases and chases2 (starts and
 ends of chases, each uses slightly different criteria to define a chase.
 data from chases struct used in paper), magloc_on_flyazi (matrix with the
 location of the magnet on the fly's azimuth at each time step). Data
 come from 10 minute trials.fem on
 mag.zipTracked data files, oe
 minus females glued on magnetsData from males flies
 paired with virgin females with genetically ablated oenocytes glued on
 magnets. *.m files, with the following data structs: fly (position and
 orientation of fly during the trial), robot (position and orientation of
 robot), chases and chases2 (starts and ends of chases, each uses slightly
 different criteria to define a chase. data from chases struct used in
 paper), magloc_on_flyazi (matrix with the location of the magnet on the
 fly's azimuth at each time step). Data come from 10 minute
 trials.oeminus fem on
 mag.rarTracked data files,
 different backgroundsData from males flies
 paired with differently painted dummies in one of three chambers -- black,
 white, or grey. *.m files, with the following data structs: fly (position
 and orientation of fly during the trial), robot (position and orientation
 of robot), chases and chases2 (starts and ends of chases, each uses
 slightly different criteria to define a chase. data from chases struct
 used in paper), magloc_on_flyazi (matrix with the location of the magnet
 on the fly's azimuth at each time step). Data come from 10 minute
 trials.diff
 bg.zipDifferently painted
 dummies, part 1Data from males flies
 paired with differently painted dummies. File is actually a single zip
 split into multiple parts. *.m files, with the following data structs: fly
 (position and orientation of fly during the trial), robot (position and
 orientation of robot), chases and chases2 (starts and ends of chases, each
 uses slightly different criteria to define a chase. data from chases
 struct used in paper), magloc_on_flyazi (matrix with the location of the
 magnet on the fly's azimuth at each time step). Data come from 10
 minute trials.painted
 mags.zip.001dummies painted two
 colors, part 1Data from males flies
 paired with rectangular dummies painted two colors. File is actually a
 single zip split into multiple parts (this is part 1). *.m files, with the
 following data structs: fly (position and orientation of fly during the
 trial), robot (position and orientation of robot), chases and chases2
 (starts and ends of chases, each uses slightly different criteria to
 define a chase. data from chases struct used in paper), magloc_on_flyazi
 (matrix with the location of the magnet on the fly's azimuth at each
 time step). Data come from 10 minute trials.bicolored
 mags.zip.001Differently painted
 dummies, part 2Data from males flies
 paired with differently painted dummies. File is actually a single zip
 split into multiple parts (this is part 2). *.m files, with the following
 data structs: fly (position and orientation of fly during the trial),
 robot (position and orientation of robot), chases and chases2 (starts and
 ends of chases, each uses slightly different criteria to define a chase.
 data from chases struct used in paper), magloc_on_flyazi (matrix with the
 location of the magnet on the fly's azimuth at each time step). Data
 come from 10 minute trials.painted
 mags.zip.002Differently painted
 dummies, part 3Data from males flies
 paired with differently painted dummies. File is actually a single zip
 split into multiple parts (this is part 3). *.m files, with the following
 data structs: fly (position and orientation of fly during the trial),
 robot (position and orientation of robot), chases and chases2 (starts and
 ends of chases, each uses slightly different criteria to define a chase.
 data from chases struct used in paper), magloc_on_flyazi (matrix with the
 location of the magnet on the fly's azimuth at each time step). Data
 come from 10 minute trials.painted
 mags.zip.003dummies painted two
 colors, part 2Data from males flies
 paired with rectangular dummies painted two colors. File is actually a
 single zip split into multiple parts (this is part 2). *.m files, with the
 following data structs: fly (position and orientation of fly during the
 trial), robot (position and orientation of robot), chases and chases2
 (starts and ends of chases, each uses slightly different criteria to
 define a chase. data from chases struct used in paper), magloc_on_flyazi
 (matrix with the location of the magnet on the fly's azimuth at each
 time step). Data come from 10 minute trials.bicolored
 mags.zip.002dummies painted two
 colors, part 3Data from males flies
 paired with rectangular dummies painted two colors. File is actually a
 single zip split into multiple parts (this is part 3). *.m files, with the
 following data structs: fly (position and orientation of fly during the
 trial), robot (position and orientation of robot), chases and chases2
 (starts and ends of chases, each uses slightly different criteria to
 define a chase. data from chases struct used in paper), magloc_on_flyazi
 (matrix with the location of the magnet on the fly's azimuth at each
 time step). Data come from 10 minute trials.bicolored
 mags.zip.003dummies painted two
 colors, part 4Data from males flies
 paired with rectangular dummies painted two colors. File is actually a
 single zip split into multiple parts (this is part 4). *.m files, with the
 following data structs: fly (position and orientation of fly during the
 trial), robot (position and orientation of robot), chases and chases2
 (starts and ends of chases, each uses slightly different criteria to
 define a chase. data from chases struct used in paper), magloc_on_flyazi
 (matrix with the location of the magnet on the fly's azimuth at each
 time step). Data come from 10 minute trials.bicolored
 mags.zip.004Differently painted
 dummies, part 5Data from males flies
 paired with rectangular dummies painted two colors. File is actually a
 single zip split into multiple parts (this is part 5). *.m files, with the
 following data structs: fly (position and orientation of fly during the
 trial), robot (position and orientation of robot), chases and chases2
 (starts and ends of chases, each uses slightly different criteria to
 define a chase. data from chases struct used in paper), magloc_on_flyazi
 (matrix with the location of the magnet on the fly's azimuth at each
 time step). Data come from 10 minute trials.bicolored
 mags.zip.005