Arenas

Arenas define the space in which the flies move. Many behavioural arenas exist for the ethoscope, and new ones can be designed for specific needs; 3D printing is the method of choice. Most users work with the standard arena (panel A below). All the lab’s arenas are on Onshape.

Caution

Arenas must have targets. Targets are black disks, 4 mm in diameter, that mark three of the four corners of the arena at fixed positions. The ethoscope recognises them automatically (the green crosses above) and uses them to define the regions of interest and the orientation of the arena. Without targets you can record video but cannot start tracking.

Printed arenas have three recesses for the targets. Print the target sheet (PDF) on A4 or US Letter paper, cut a square around each disk and glue one into each recess.

Commonly used arenas

The arenas below are the ones used most. If you need a special model, get in touch and it can be added to the list. The models on Onshape are shared view-only: to modify or export them, copy them to your own workspace with a free Onshape account. To design your own arena, start from one of these templates: HD template, full glass lid template, blank template.

Standard sleep arena

The arena most used for sleep studies, for example in Geissmann et al. Science Advances 2019. It holds twenty 5 mm glass tubes (VWR 201-1005) and works with the sleep deprivation module: every other slot is slightly wider so that the tubes can rotate. Model on Onshape. A fixed version does not allow the tubes to rotate.

Sleep arena for 7 mm tubes

Like the standard arena, but for 7 mm tubes, much wider than those normally used for Drosophila melanogaster. It holds 16 tubes, 8 on each side, and still fits the sleep deprivation module. Model on Onshape.

2D arena with removable wells

Used in Jones et al. eLife 2023 (paper page). It has 24 removable wells that can be filled with food and covered with 13 mm microscopy coverslips (for example VWR 631-0148). Models on Onshape: arena, wells, and wells with curved walls as in Simon et al. PLoS ONE 2010.

Arena for long 5 mm tubes

Holds ten longer 5 mm tubes. It was used in French et al. Nature 2021 (paper page), where air pumps delivered odours: the longer tube gives the flies more room to move and so a more robust choice when exposed to an odour. Model on Onshape.

HD arena for courtship or fighting

Designed for HD video recording, with six fixed chambers for one-to-one encounters. Two strips slide into the lengthwise slits as walls that keep the animals apart until the experiment starts. Each chamber has an opening for loading flies with a blower, closed with a removable plug. Cover each chamber with a 22 mm square coverslip (for example VWR 631-0126). Model on Onshape.

HD arena with square wells

For 2D recording. Each well can be filled with food or take a custom insert, and is closed with a 22 mm square coverslip. Model on Onshape, or with open slits.

Arena with open wells

The same idea for regular (non-HD) video and tracking, with 12 wells. Model on Onshape.