Using a virtual reality system, experiments in Drosophila show that flies use memory mechanisms to navigate along the boundary of an odour plume and track the source of a smell.

Using a virtual reality system, experiments in Drosophila show that flies use memory mechanisms to navigate along the boundary of an odour plume and track the source of a smell.

Odors can reveal distant or hidden food sources, mates, and other important targets, but odor plumes are turbulent and fragmented, often reaching animals as brief, disconnected…