Drosophila courtship song cycles in normal andperiod mutant males revisited

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Abstract
Courtship songs of normal males and those expressing short-period, long-period, and arrhythmic mutations at theperiod (per) locus ofDrosophila melanogaster have been reanalyzed for rhythmic components, using spectral treatments of the fluctuating rates of tone pulse production that occur during courtship. It was concluded, as in previous studies, that such songs are strongly rhythmic, except for courtships performed byper 01 males. Songs produced by males expressing this and otherper alleles were compared to computer-generated “random” ones. Interpulse interval variations influenced byper 01 and songs simulated to be arrhythmic both were found to be associated with cryptic rhythmicities; several such period values, extracted by the spectral analyses, defined very short cycle durations. We discuss the implications of these findings and of some recently reported results that have challenged the existence of rhythmicity inDrosophila songs.