An information-theoretic analysis of the tsetse fly (Glossina morsitans) antenna reveals trichoid sensilla as the main carriers of odor identity

Trichoid sensilla classes on the Glossina morsitans antenna carry more odor-identity information than basiconic classes (1.92 vs. 1.14 bits of 4), with 1-octen-3-ol strongly exciting them.

• Why it matters: Odor-baited control depends on knowing which antennal sensilla encode host odors, but clustering of sensilla classes cannot quantify information content or odor discrimination.
• What they did: The authors reanalyzed responses from 182 sensilla to 16–17 odorants using Fisher-Rao information geometry, bias-corrected mutual information, Bayesian decoding, and signal detection theory.
• The result: Adding trichoid to basiconic sensilla increased decoding accuracy from 32% to 70% (23% to 55% on held-out sensilla) and identified 1-octen-3-ol on 98% of trials (92% held out).