All animals rely on senses of taste and smell to find acceptable food for survival.
Studies of sensory physiology have often used insects as experimental subjects because insects can be manipulated with ease and because their sensory-response system is relatively simple. In this experiment we tested the ability of the blowfly Sarcophaga bullata to taste different sugars and a sugar substitute. Because sucrose is so sweet to people, I expected the flies to taste lower concentrations of sucrose than they would of maltose and glucose. Because saccharin is also sweet tasting to people, I expected the flies to respond positively to it as well. We stuck flies to popsickle sticks by pushing their wings into a sticky wax we rubbed on the sticks.