Daily rhythms under semi-natural conditions

We performed some of the first experiments on Drosophila activity and adult emergence rhythms in natural-like environments and found substantial differences in patterns of such behaviour compared to laboratory conditions. We examined the responsiveness of adult emergence to environmental variables such as temperature and humidity and showed that flies tend to emerge close to the time when minimum temperature and maximum humidity is seen. Moreover, we manipulated light patterns in natural environments using filters and shades to show that different peaks of activity are differently modulated by light and temperature and may correspond to functionally different behaviours such as foraging or mating. We also showed that light receptor and internal clock mutants show largely similar behaviour to controls in semi-natural conditions as opposed to the large differences seen in laboratory.