As with the males, the activity level between the horizontal and vertical groups is statistically different during microgravity, but not during level flight either before or after the parabolas. The male and female activity patterns are similar in that the activity level increases throughout the flight with the maximum occurring during the last set of parabolas. However, both males and females return to pre-parabola activity levels after the final parabola. The statistical differences between males and females occur in the vertical group during level flight, both before and after the parabolas, and in the horizontal group for parabolas 11-20. Activity level for female fruit flies during segments of the KC-135 flight.
Error bars indicate standard error.
Level flight before and after lasted 9.6 minutes and 24.6 minutes, respectively. Each parabola lasts 20-25 seconds. The sounding rocket data indicates an increasing activity level during the few minutes of microgravity, which then levels off or slowly decreases depending upon orientation and sex. The KC-135 data shows an increasing activity level throughout the entire flight. However, direct comparisons between the rocket and KC-135 flights are difficult due to the temperature differences.