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Acetaldehyde: a low-concentration resource and larval attractant in 3Drosophila species

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Summary

Acetaldehyde is used as an energy source and attracts larvae up to low concentrations where it becomes a stress and a larval repellant, inD. melanogaster, D. simulans, andD. immigrans. This result is expected, since acetaldehyde is an intermediary compound between ethanol and acetic acid, both of which are utilized as resources and attract larvae to varying thresholds according to species and genotype.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Genetics and Human Variation, La Trobe University, 3083, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia

    P. A. Parsons & G. E. Spence

Authors
  1. P. A. Parsons
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  2. G. E. Spence
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Additional information

We thank Jan Clarke for assistance, and the Australian Research Grants Committee for partial financial support.

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Parsons, P.A., Spence, G.E. Acetaldehyde: a low-concentration resource and larval attractant in 3Drosophila species. Experientia 37, 576–577 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01990058

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