The significance of palpation by the maxillary palps of Locusta migratoria (L): an electrophysiological and behavioural study

Palpation increases the amount of sensory input reaching the central nervous system compared with that obtained from sustained contact but that increase is not essential to allow discrimination. During a meal on favoured food, phagostimulatory input from the palps is not needed to drive feeding. When less favoured food is taken, phagostimulatory input from the palps may enhance feeding. Even with favoured food, the palps are important in registering inhibitory substances.