Insects perceive gravity via the gravity-proprioreceptive system. In honeybees, as in most insects, this includes sensory neurons in tiny hairs on the animal’s neck hair plates, base of the abdomen, and sensilla in the legs (Lindauer and Nedel, 1959). The gravity-proprioreceptive system is important in flight in all insects in order for them to properly orientate themselves and distinguish up from down.
The ability to detect gravity and orientate themselves is also important in communication in honeybees. Upon locating a food source, honeybees return to the hive to communicate the location of the food to the hive. As the hive is dark, it is important for the honeybee to be able to detect gravity without relying on vision, so it can properly orientate itself and deliver the correct message. The location of the food source is initially determined by relating its position to the angle of the sun. Transposing this information into gravity-based information relies on accurate gravity receptivity (Brockmann and Robinson, 2007).
Studies into gravity perception in the fly species Drosophila have indicated that “–higher level central brain neuropils, in particular the central complex, might also be involved in gravity orientation,” (Armstrong et al., 2005).