Social interactions pivot on an animal's experiences, internal states, and feedback from others. This complexity drives the need for precise descriptions of behavior to dissect the fine detail of its genetic and neural circuit bases. In laboratory assays, male Drosophila melanogaster reliably exhibit aggression, and its extent is generally measured by scoring lunges, a feature of aggression in which one male quickly thrusts onto his opponent. Here, we introduce an explicit approach to identify both the onset and reversals in hierarchical status among opponents and observe that distinct aggressive acts reproducibly precede, concur, or follow the establishment of dominance. We find that lunges are insufficient for establishing dominance. Rather, lunges appear to reflect the dominant state of a male and help in maintaining his social status. Lastly, we characterize the recurring and escalating structure of aggression that emerges through subsequent reversals in dominance. Collectively, this work provides a framework for studying the complexity of agonistic interactions in male flies enabling its neurogenetic basis to be understood with precision.

中文翻译：

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建立和维护社会等级制度，并在果蝇中表现出明显的侵略性

社交互动取决于动物的经历，内部状态以及其他人的反馈。这种复杂性促使人们需要对行为进行精确描述，以剖析其遗传和神经回路基础的细节。在实验室分析中，雄性果蝇可靠地表现出侵略性，并且其程度通常通过刻划弓步来衡量，侵略性是一个雄性迅速将对手推向对手的特征。在这里，我们介绍了一种明确的方法来识别对手之间等级制状态的发生和逆转，并观察到不同的攻击性行为可重复地在主导地位的建立之前，一致或之后。我们发现弓步不足以建立支配地位。相反，弓步似乎反映出男性的主要状态并有助于维持其社会地位。最后，我们描述了侵略性的不断升级的结构，这种结构是通过随后的主导地位逆转而出现的。总的来说，