Drosophila melanogaster is a versatile model system that can be used to illustrate genetic and developmental biology concepts. However, many undergraduate students are not given the opportunity to work with fruit flies in developmental biology courses. We utilize a simple and cost-effective two-choice plate assay to introduce undergraduate students to Drosophila genetics and life cycle. In addition, this module is flexible and can be adapted to study diverse aspects of fruit fly gustatory behavior, such as correlation of RNA-seq data with stage-related nutritional preferences and observation of taste-related genetic dimorphisms. We have incorporated this module into an upper division undergraduate developmental laboratory. Students used the two-choice plate assay to test Drosophila sugar substitute taste preferences. Quantitative results obtained are presented as the preference index as well as percent participation.
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