Fruit flies are a common research animal in neuroscience and behavioral studies because of their surprising similarities to humans. The mysteries of a broad range of human conditions can be studied in detail in these organisms, however this often requires the use of expensive custom equipment. In a Community Page publishing 19 October in the open access journal PLOS Biology, Dr Giorgio Gilestro from Imperial College London and colleagues present the ethoscope—a cheap, easy-to-use and self-made customisable piece of equipment of their invention that can be used to study flies’ behavior.