Butenolide Insecticide Flupyradifurone Affects Honey Bee Worker Antiviral Immunity and Survival

Abstract

Honey bees face many environmental stressors, including exposure to pesticides and pathogens. A novel butenolide pesticide, flupyradifurone, was recently introduced to the US and shown to have a bee-friendly toxicity profile. Like the much-scrutinized neonicotinoids that preceded it, flupyradifurone targets the insect nervous system. Some neonicotinoids have been shown to interfere with antiviral immunity, which raised the concern that similar effects may be observed with flupyradifurone. In this study, we investigated how flupyradifurone and a neonicotinoid, clothianidin, affect the ability of honey bee workers to combat an infection of Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV). We exposed workers to field-realistic doses of the pesticides either with or without co-exposure with the virus, and then tracked survival and changes in viral titers. We repeated the experiment in the spring and fall to look for any seasonal effects. We found that flupyradifurone caused elevated mortality in the fall, but it did not lead to increased virus-induced mortality. Flupyradifurone also appeared to affect virus clearance, as bees co-exposed to the pesticide and virus tended to have higher viral titers after 48 hours than those exposed to the virus alone. Clothianidin had no effect on viral titers, and it actually appeared to increase resistance to viral infection in spring bees.

Acute oral toxicity, apoptosis, and immune response in nurse bees (Apis mellifera) induced by flupyradifurone

“…The concentrations of FPF exposed to bees were mainly field-realistic ( Glaberman and White, 2014 ; Tosi and Nieh, 2019 ; Harwood et al, 2022 ). Although FPF at the field-realistic concentration had no evident adverse effect in acute toxicity and apoptotic assay, Hsp90 was significantly upregulated after 24 h of exposure, which was consistent with that in newly emerged bees after 12-h exposure of FPF ( Wu et al, 2015 ) and 72-h exposure of nicotine ( Rand et al, 2015 ).…”

Exposure to sublethal concentration of flupyradifurone alters sexual behavior and cuticular hydrocarbon profile in Heriades truncorum, an oligolectic solitary bee

“…Further, honey bees exposed to field realistic doses of flupyradifurone have been shown to have memory and learning problems (Tan et al, 2017;Hesselbach & Scheiner, 2018) and poor coordination probably decreasing flight ability (Tong et al, 2019) and leading to the premature onset of foraging (Hesselbach et al, 2020). Moreover, the pesticide has been found to cause negative effect on olfactory and visual modalities in bumble bees (Siviter & Muth, 2020) and an associated impact on the immunity of honey bees (Al Naggar & Baer, 2019;Harwood et al, 2022). It has been found negatively to impact the reproductive rate of the egg parasitoid wasp, Trichogramma evanescens (Tabebordbar et al, 2020).…”

“…Moreover, the pesticide has been found to cause negative effect on olfactory and visual modalities in bumble bees (Siviter & Muth, 2020) and an associated impact on the immunity of honey bees (Al Naggar & Baer, 2019; Harwood et al. , 2022). It has been found negatively to impact the reproductive rate of the egg parasitoid wasp, Trichogramma evanescens (Tabebordbar et al.…”

Is Integrated Management of Gymnandrosoma aurantianum Possible with Trichogramma atopovirilia and Novel Products Used in Citrus Orchards in Brazil?

“…Also, the interaction of the insecticide flupyradifurone on citrus plants may have increased the toxicity of the product, as it is a systemic product. This interaction does not occur with this pest’s eggs [ 33 ].…”