Researchers bet on fruit fly fights to expose underlying biology of aggression

Round by round, move by move, video replay of 75 fruit fly fights reveals statistically significant patterns of normal fighting behavior. Male fruit flies that pick a fight are likely to win the battle. Losing fruit flies don't give up easily, even if it takes them longer to re-engage their foes after a particular bruising encounter. Most fruit fly fights are resolved before they escalate to intense physical contact.

These are some of the results from a study of 75 fruit fly fights staged at a neurobiology laboratory at Harvard Medical School (HMS) in Boston, Mass. USA. The researchers videotaped and analyzed the fights to learn more about aggression