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I have been able to contemplate the pairing of flies, on top of the pilgrim's pumpkins, in the garden of the Pedralbes monastery in Barcelona.
It is not easy to get these photographs, but I have been able to capture them to show them in La Vanguardia's Readers' Photos. It seems that this fall the insects reproduce before the low temperatures of winter arrive.
It turns out that fly copulation teaches us many things, such as that male persistence decreases as it progresses. It responds to brain impulses that determine the ideal moment in which they should end.
This was determined by the study Opposite dopaminergic and GABAergic neurons control the duration and persistence of copulation in Drosophila, published in the journal Cell. The researchers located the neural circuit and hypothesized that a similar timer must exist in humans.
The duration of copulation depends on a neural mechanism that controls the time worth spending on intercourse. In the case of the fly it is very practical because it corresponds to the time necessary to fertilize the female. But, in the case of human beings, what role does the pleasure of the sexual act play in prolonging copulation?
The researchers noticed that, during the first stages of intercourse, nothing interrupts mating. However, if it was prolonged beyond 15 minutes, when it is more likely that fertilization has occurred successfully, interest decreases and the sexual act ends.
