Male behaviour in Drosophila prolongata
This video shows a fight between two male D. prolongata in the presence of a female. The use of the forelegs provides one explanation for their exaggeration - leg size may correlate with competitiveness.
Here a male D. prolongata shows elaborate courtship behaviour, using the wings and forelegs to impress the female, suggesting another explanation for foreleg exaggeration.
And here, one male D. prolongata keeps courting the female, but a rival intercepts and gets the mating. One of our goals is to understand the causes and consequences of this interesting behaviour, which resembles the sneaking behaviour reported in a wide variety of species.