Pollen basket

There was little formal description of the corbicula before Carl Linnaeus explained the biological function of pollen in the mid-18th century.

Like other Latin anatomical terms, this had the advantages of specificity, international acceptability, and culture neutrality.

[5] A century later, the authors of "Imms" included only the terms scopa and corbicula in the index, with pollen basket in the text.

A honey bee moistens the forelegs with its protruding tongue and brushes the pollen that has collected on its head, body and forward appendages to the hind legs.

[16] In Apis species, a single hair functions as a pin that secures the middle of the pollen load.