Researchers from the UEA and Oxford observed male fruit flies get more aggressive the longer they went without food.
Researchers from the University of East Anglia and University of Oxford observed male fruit flies get more aggressive the longer they went without food.
But their 'hanger' only lasted to a certain point, as their combative behaviour plateaued after 24 hours, the experts said. To carry out the experiment, researchers scanned vials of male fruit flies with different amounts of food inside to record the number of lunges and tussles they made towards one another.Dr Jen Perry, senior author of the study, of UEA's School of Biological Sciences, said:"We found that hungry male fruit flies display more hostility toward each other.
"They're more likely to aggressively lunge at each other and to swat at each other with their legs , and they spend more time defending food patches.