Behavior choices amongst grooming, feeding and courting in <i>Drosophila</i> show contextual flexibility, not an absolute hierarchy of needs

To determine the algorithmic rules and neural circuits controlling selection amongst competing behaviors, we established assays where adult Drosophila melanogaster choose between grooming and feeding, grooming and courting, or feeding and courting. We found that there is not an absolute hierarchy: while flies typically perform grooming first, they can choose to feed if sufficiently starved, or court if an appropriate female is available. Flies alternate between competing behaviors, performing short bouts of each action rather than completely satisfying one drive before transitioning to another. While we did not do an exhaustive screen, from the candidates we examined, we did not find evidence for a specific genetic or neuronal locus that affects all decisions. We did identify genetic background effects, suggesting that multiple genes may contribute to decision-making priorities. Our results add to a growing body of work on decision making in Drosophila and provide a foundation for future investigation of the exact neural circuits required to achieve appropriate choices.