New study reveales that air pollution is creating a hindrance in the mating of fruit flies

According to a recent study, air pollution prevents fruit flies from mating because the females are unable to detect the male’s fragrance.

The ability of male fruit flies to generate their distinctive odour has been damaged by air pollution, according to experts. Female fruit flies choose males for mating based on the scent of pheromones that they emit.

The study demonstrates how polluted air is preventing fruit flies and other insects from reproducing, which could result in a population collapse.

‘Everyone knows that we are facing insect decline, and so far the reason was pesticide use and habitat loss. But we think that we should also consider oxygen pollutants,’ said Markus Knaden, who is an evolutionary neuroethology researcher at the Max Planck Institute as well as the study’s lead author, which was published in the journal Nature Communications.

This study is based on how the smell of the flower is perceived differently by the insects when they are exposed to elevated levels of ozone.