Thus, the various types of inputs and outputs involved in feeding on carbohydrates have been well documented. Carbohydrates are essential for the maintenance of life and are used as fuels for different types of locomotion. Carbohydrates, however, as a single food item do not lead to sexual behavior or egg development in this fly. The important dietary item essential for the development of sexual behavior in both sexes is protein. Without it, sexual behavior does not occur.
Mating behavior is essential for any bisexual animal species to exist.
We are just beginning to understand those factors involved in both the ontogeny of sexual behavior and its regulation once the animal is sexually mature. My laboratory is concentrating on how diet influences mating behavior. How dietary proteins and hormones influence the ontogeny of sexual behavior and regulate its expression once the adults are sexually mature is the main focus of my laboratory. John G. Stoffolano, Jr. Effect of Diet and Hormones on Sexual Behavior in Insects Many aspects of insect sexual behavior are under neuroendocrine control. Two hormone families, the ecdysteroids and juvenile hormones, are present in adult insects.