Drosophila melanogaster, the common fruit fly, is in some ways a simple creature. But in others it is so complex that, as with any form of life, we are only scratching the surface of understanding it.

The researchers described the motions of fruit flies tethered in a virtual reality flight simulator constructed with LED lights and recorded using high speed cameras, in a paper published today (Aug.

Fruit flies synchronize the movements of their heads and bodies to stabilize their vision and fly effectively, according to Penn State researchers who utilized virtual-reality flight simulators. The ...