Insect grooming prevents disease and preserves sensory functioning. Grooming movements have not been examined in flies, so this descriptive study was undertaken, using frame by frame analysis of videographs. Drosophila was chosen because of recent interest in neural systems that control grooming. Head grooming occurs in discrete bouts during which the well-bristled forelegs serve as brushes that sweep across areas of the head, usually several times per bout ($$\overline{X} \pm s=$$X¯±s= 4.3 ± 1.1). Grooming is nearly always performed simultaneously by both legs. Sweeps across the head comprise cycles with a mean period of 95 ms and a modest amount of individual variation (CV = 9%); the sexes and species are virtually identical. In contrast to the precision of timing, head grooming is spatially irregular; no specific organ except the proboscis is groomed by itself; multiple areas are frequently groomed in a single bout and the two legs usually groom different areas of the head. Head movements comprise: (1) frequent, brief yawing motions, (2) pitching motions, and (3) occasional large rolls that enhance a foreleg’s access to the top of the head. The amount of time spent for head grooming depended on the number of sweep cycles (r = 0.99).

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苍蝇如何保持清洁？果蝇的头部美容

昆虫美容可以预防疾病并保持感官功能。尚未在果蝇中检查梳理运动，因此使用视频的逐帧分析进行了这项描述性研究。选择果蝇是因为最近对控制梳理的神经系统感兴趣。头部修饰发生在离散的回合中，在此期间，刚毛的前腿充当刷子扫过头部区域，通常每次回合数次（$$\overline{X} \pm s=$$X¯±s= 4.3 ± 1.1)。美容几乎总是由双腿同时进行。头部扫描包括平均周期为 95 ms 和适度个体差异（CV = 9%）的周期；性别和物种几乎相同。与计时精度相反​​，头部修饰在空间上是不规则的；除了长鼻外，没有特定的器官是自己修饰的；多个区域经常在一次回合中被修饰，两条腿通常修饰头部的不同区域。头部运动包括：(1) 频繁、短暂的偏航运动，(2) 俯仰运动，以及 (3) 偶尔的大翻滚，以增强前腿到达头顶的能力。头部修饰所花费的时间取决于扫描周期数 (r = 0.99)。