Maltose and sucrose are both disaccharide. Because sucrose is an alpha- glucosidase derivative, it makes sense that the threshold value for sucrose occurs at a lower concentration than that for maltose. I think this might also be the reason why sucrose tastes so sweet to people. My other hypothesis was not supported, however, because the flies did not respond positively to saccharin. Two flies did respond positively to saccharin, but this could have happened because that lab group did not give the flies enough time to respond or did not rinse them off properly before the test with saccharin.
Flies taste food with specific cells on their tarsal hairs.
Of the five cella, the stimulation of the water and sugar cells will induce feeding, while stimulation of the salt, alcohol, and oil receptors will inhibit feeding. This selectivity is a valuable asset to a fly because it helps the fly recognize potentially toxic substances as well as valuable nutrients. Thus, flies are well adapted to finding food for their own survival. I thank Mrs. Cutler for help with the t-test and my lab partners for helping me understand this experiment. Biology, 4th ed.