[Study of the olfactory response in the Drosophila homeotic mutant leg-aristae-wing complex gene]

Antennae are known to be olfactory organs in Drosophila. The leg-aristae-wing complex (lawc) mutation causes a homeotic transformation of the arista (the fifth element of antenna) into tarsal elements. To test how the homeotic transformation of the arista into the tarsus can affect behavior, we studied the olfactory response in the lawc mutants. The data were carefully processed by statistical methods. In spite of a low penetrance of the trait of arista transformation, the mutant flies were found to be approximately half as perceptible to attractant odors than the wild-type flies.