The Art of Courtship

Today was my first day of lab for Bio 102L. Most of the time was spent in the university's greenhouses, which felt stupendously Hogwarts-ish to me. A small chunk of time was spent preparing our Generation 1 fruit flies for sex so we can study their great grandchildren within a few weeks.

And when I say I was preparing them for sex, I mean combining the sex-segregated tubes of flies together so that the males can actually get to the females. Ha-ha.

Later, my lab TA decided to show us the above video to demonstrate the flies' courtship song. All I have to say is that this video made me VERY GLAD that I am a member of a species that regards the act of courtship much more artfully than say, these Drosophila -- that was pretty much the equivalent of a guy stalking behind you while hooting catcalls and then suddenly leaping onto you in an attempt to sow his seeds in your fertile ground.

Yeah, I am not complaining the next time I go to a club.