Displacement sensors in the honeybee pollen basket

The mechanical importance of different groups of corbicular setae to the formation and maintenance of the pollen load was established through ablation experiments. The neurophysiological characteristics of corbicular setae were investigated and it was found that there are three types of response to mechanical displacement of individual setae. At least some of the anterior corbicular setae behave as linear displacement sensors and are capable of measuring the size of the forming pollen load during foraging.