Larval escape locomotion
Click the link above to see a movie showing a behavior that our lab uses to identify “pain mutants.” The larva, when lightly touched by forceps that have been heated to a noxious temperature responds by producing a corkscrew like motor output. This escape behavior is highly stereotyped and is completely distinct from the response to touch alone Mutants that are defective in pain signaling show only the touch response when contacted with the heated probe. These behaviors are innate behaviors encoded in the genome of the fly.