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Flies riding on a carousel suggest that insects like to play

Fruit flies with access to a spinning carousel seem to ride on it for fun in a rare case of play-like behaviour in an invertebrate

By Chen Ly

17 August 2023

Âé¶¹´«Ã½. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

A fruit fly riding on a spinning carousel in a lab experiment

Tilman Triphan and Wolf Huetteroth

Some fruit flies seem to enjoy whizzing around on a carousel in what may be a form of play.

Many animals, such as dogs and gorillas, appear to play regularly, but it is unclear how common such behaviour is in insects and other invertebrates. Last year, researchers found that bumblebees roll wooden balls around in the first evidence of insect play.

and at the University of Leipzig in Germany have now found that fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) appear…

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