Protocol for quantifying Drosophila feeding behavior using flyPAD and optoPAD.

Overview

1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA

Abstract

Quantifying feeding behavior with precision is essential for understanding how internal state, sensory cues, and neural activity influence food intake and dietary choice. Here, we present a protocol for performing consumption and dietary choice assays in Drosophila using the flyPAD/optoPAD system. We provide instructions for food preparation, arena setup, data acquisition, and analysis for studying feeding behavior, nutrient preference, and learning. This approach enables the measurement of feeding events across multiple arenas while allowing precise control of food substrates and optogenetic stimulation.

For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Christie et al.1

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

Code

The paper says that its authors' code is available on request: it was not published with the paper, so there is nothing to verify.

The paper's code and data availability statement is in the Data section.

Tracing map

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Data

No dataset and no data link were found in the paper.

Materials availability

All data provided in this manuscript were published in Christie et al.1 Raw data are available upon request form .

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

Data and code availability

For inquiries regarding the data analysis software and associated tools used with the flyPAD/optoPAD system, readers should consult the manufacturer documentation provided with the equipment. Additional requests can be made to Lisha Shao ().

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

Versions

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Version 2, 28 September 2026

• Authors: added Lisha Shao (0000-0001-5128-7548); removed Lisha Shao

Version 1, 27 September 2026: the first record

Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, issue, pages, dates, 4 authors, 3 keywords, 2 funders, 27 references.

Cite

This paper

Collins, N. J., Endres, M. N., Sinakevitch, I. T., & Shao, L. (2026). Protocol for quantifying Drosophila feeding behavior using flyPAD and optoPAD. STAR protocols, 7(3), 104711. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xpro.2026.104711

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