Researchers have engineered a courtship ritual from one species of fruit fly into another using genetic modification. 

A Japanese research team tweaked a single gene in the fly Drosophila melanogaster, causing it to display a courtship ritual only previously seen in Drosophila subobscura. 

The research shows that manipulations of relatively small chunks of genetic code can alter complex behaviors. 

Dating as a fly is a complicated game. In the majority of fly species, D. melanogaster included, male flies vibrate their wings, composing elaborate courtship “songs” to seduce their mates. 

But D. subobscura have clearly decided the route to the heart is through the stomach. Males regurgitate food and offer their vomit to potential hookups as a loving gift.  

D. melanogaster and D. subobscura are relatively closely related species, but they still diverged from each other around 30-35 million years ago. In that time, a curious difference has emerged between the two species’ brains.