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A behavioral architecture for realistic simulations of <i>Drosophila</i> larva locomotion and foraging.

Overview

Authors: Panagiotis Parthenios Sakagiannis1, Anna-Maria Jürgensen1, Martin Paul Nawrot1
ORCID iDs: Panagiotis Parthenios Sakagiannis, Anna-Maria Jürgensen, Martin Paul Nawrot
  1. Computational Systems Neuroscience, University of Cologne Cologne Germany
Institutions: University of Cologne (Germany)
Journal: eLife, volume 14, article RP104262
Dates: published online 17 August 2026
Type: Research article · Language: English
License: CC BY
Identifiers: DOI 10.7554/elife.104262 · PMID 42605607 · PMCID PMC13480992 · OpenAlex W4409325588
Open access: gold, a free copy (OpenAlex)
Status: code verified (how the code is found and verified)
Categories: computational modeling (no new data) (modality), drosophila (organism), computational (subfield)
Methods: Spectral & time-frequency
Keywords: foraging, agent-based, modular architecture, olfaction, larva, D. melanogaster
MeSH: Drosophila*, Drosophila melanogaster*, Feeding Behavior*, Locomotion*, Animals, Biomechanical Phenomena, Chemotaxis, Computer Simulation, Larva, Models, Biological (* major topic)
Journal subjects: Neuroscience
Topic: Neurobiology and Insect Physiology Research (Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience, Neuroscience), according to OpenAlex
Funding: Ministry of Culture and Science of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (iBehave network); Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG-FOR 2705 grant no. 365082554, DFG-RTG 1960 grant no. 233886668)
Citations: cited by 1 paper (Europe PMC); 95 references in the paper

Abstract

The Drosophila larva is extensively used as a model organism in neuroethological studies where precise behavioral tracking enables the statistical analysis of individual and population-level behavioral metrics that can inform mathematical models of larval behavior. Here, we propose a hierarchical model architecture comprising three layers to facilitate modular model construction, closed-loop simulations, and direct comparisons between empirical and simulated data. At the motor layer, the autonomous locomotory model is capable of performing exploration. Based on novel kinematic analyses, our model features intermittent forward crawling that is phasically coupled to lateral bending. At the second layer, navigation is achieved via active sensing in a simulated environment, and top-down modulation of locomotion. At the top layer, behavioral adaptation entails associative learning. We evaluate virtual larval behavior across agent-based simulations of autonomous free exploration, chemotaxis, and odor preference testing. Our behavioral architecture is ideally suited for the modular combination of neuromechanical, neural, or mere statistical model components, facilitating their evaluation, comparison, extension, and integration into multifunctional control architectures.

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

Code

No file of the authors' code could be read here: it is described below, and read at its source.

larvaworld.readthedocs.io

License: none: the authors keep all their rights
State: the link answers, verified on 27 September 2026
Evidence: the link answers
Software Heritage: not checked
Found in: “Software package and code availability”
Not found: README, license file, CITATION.cff, environment file, tests, continuous integration, documentation
Availability: 1 check, the latest on 27 September 2026: the link answers (HTTP 200)
  • 27 September 2026: the link answers (HTTP 200)
At the source: larvaworld.readthedocs.io

Software package and code availability

All data processing, analysis, and model simulations were performed using our open-source Python package Larvaworld (https://pypi.org/project/larvaworld/), a unified platform for behavioral analysis and simulation of Drosophila larvae. In Larvaworld, empirical and simulated data are handled identically: the same analysis pipeline and behavioral metrics are applied to both, ensuring methodological consistency throughout.

The behavioral architecture introduced in this manuscript provides the backbone for constructing, extending, configuring, and fitting behavioral models within Larvaworld. The intermittent coupled-oscillator model developed here is included, alongside other preconfigured models.

A separate publication describes the software architecture and usage in detail and provides practical tutorials for science and teaching (Sakagiannis et al., 2025). Comprehensive documentation is available at https://larvaworld.readthedocs.io.

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

Tracing map

Proposed by the machine: these links were found in the paper and verified at the source, without human review. The map will receive a Zenodo DOI once one of the paper's authors has validated it with their ORCID.

What the map holds:

  • 1 repository of the authors' code, each at its verified commit, with its license and how the link was found in the paper;
  • 0 scripts, each with its path and the digest of its content;
  • no match between paragraphs and code yet;
  • neither the text of the paper nor the code itself.

Its JSON (tracing-map.json) is deposited on Zenodo with its DOI once the map is validated.

Data

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

Data availability

The current manuscript is a computational study, so no data have been generated for this manuscript. Data analysis, behavioral modeling, and simulations have been carried out using the larvaworld Python package: https://pypi.org/project/larvaworld/.

The following previously published dataset was used:

ThoenerJ SchleyerM 2021Locomotion of naive Drosophila larvaeGIN10.12751/g-node.5e1ifd

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

Versions

The history of this record: each version stored by the harvester or made by a correction of its authors or of the maintainers of its code, and what changed in its facts. The texts of the paper (its abstract, its availability statements) are not part of it; versions that changed only those are not listed.

Version 1, 27 September 2026: the first record

Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, pages, dates, 3 authors, 6 keywords, 10 MeSH terms, 2 funders, 94 references.

Cite

This paper

Sakagiannis, P. P., Jürgensen, A.-M., & Nawrot, M. P. (2026). A behavioral architecture for realistic simulations of <i>Drosophila</i> larva locomotion and foraging. eLife, 14, RP104262. https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.104262

BibTeX

@article{sakagiannis2026behavioral,
author = {Sakagiannis, Panagiotis Parthenios and Jürgensen, Anna-Maria and Nawrot, Martin Paul},
title = {{A behavioral architecture for realistic simulations of \<i\>Drosophila\</i\> larva locomotion and foraging}},
journal = {eLife},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
volume = {14},
pages = {RP104262},
publisher = {eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd},
issn = {2050-084X},
doi = {10.7554/elife.104262},
url = {https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.104262},
pmid = {42605607},
pmcid = {PMC13480992}
}

RIS

TY - JOUR
AU - Sakagiannis, Panagiotis Parthenios
AU - Jürgensen, Anna-Maria
AU - Nawrot, Martin Paul
TI - A behavioral architecture for realistic simulations of <i>Drosophila</i> larva locomotion and foraging
T2 - eLife
J2 - eLife
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/17
VL - 14
SP - RP104262
SN - 2050-084X
PB - eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
DO - 10.7554/elife.104262
UR - https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.104262
LA - en
ER -

CSL-JSON

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