Stereotaxic map of the muscle fibers in the indirect flight muscles of Drosophila melanogaster.

It is possible to monitor the electrical activity of the motor neurons of Drosophila by recording the electrical activity of the muscle fibers. We have found that it is possible to specify the location of the subcuticular terminations and to describe the orientation within the thorax for the individual muscle fibers, because of the large size of the fibers and because the surface anatomy of Drosophila is known in detail. A map has been made to indicate the location of the muscle fibers with respect to superficial landmarks. The importance of the stereotaxic map for physiological studies is discussed.