Neural effects of insecticides in the honey bee

Belzunces, Luc; Tchamitchian, Sylvie; Brunet, Jean-Luc

doi:10.1007/s13592-012-0134-0

Cited by 171 publications

(112 citation statements)

References 223 publications

(246 reference statements)

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“…The detected decrease in pollen collection and honey production upon sublethal neonicotinoid exposure are in line with earlier findings of impaired honeybee foraging through impacts on neurophysiological traits and cognitive abilities, including sucrose responsiveness, foraging rates, waggle dancing and memory and learning [47], [48], [49], [50], [51], [52], [53], [54], [55], [56], [57], [58], [59]. In addition, increased forager losses resulting from decreased homing success [48] through compromised navigation memory [58] may have contributed to both reduced foraging efficiency and significantly smaller worker populations of the colonies exposed to thiamethoxam and clothianidin compared to controls (Fig.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Impact of Chronic Neonicotinoid Exposure on Honeybee Colony Performance and Queen Supersedure

et al. 2014

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BackgroundHoneybees provide economically and ecologically vital pollination services to crops and wild plants. During the last decade elevated colony losses have been documented in Europe and North America. Despite growing consensus on the involvement of multiple causal factors, the underlying interactions impacting on honeybee health and colony failure are not fully resolved. Parasites and pathogens are among the main candidates, but sublethal exposure to widespread agricultural pesticides may also affect bees.Methodology/Principal FindingsTo investigate effects of sublethal dietary neonicotinoid exposure on honeybee colony performance, a fully crossed experimental design was implemented using 24 colonies, including sister-queens from two different strains, and experimental in-hive pollen feeding with or without environmentally relevant concentrations of thiamethoxam and clothianidin. Honeybee colonies chronically exposed to both neonicotinoids over two brood cycles exhibited decreased performance in the short-term resulting in declining numbers of adult bees (−28%) and brood (−13%), as well as a reduction in honey production (−29%) and pollen collections (−19%), but colonies recovered in the medium-term and overwintered successfully. However, significantly decelerated growth of neonicotinoid-exposed colonies during the following spring was associated with queen failure, revealing previously undocumented long-term impacts of neonicotinoids: queen supersedure was observed for 60% of the neonicotinoid-exposed colonies within a one year period, but not for control colonies. Linked to this, neonicotinoid exposure was significantly associated with a reduced propensity to swarm during the next spring. Both short-term and long-term effects of neonicotinoids on colony performance were significantly influenced by the honeybees’ genetic background.Conclusions/SignificanceSublethal neonicotinoid exposure did not provoke increased winter losses. Yet, significant detrimental short and long-term impacts on colony performance and queen fate suggest that neonicotinoids may contribute to colony weakening in a complex manner. Further, we highlight the importance of the genetic basis of neonicotinoid susceptibility in honeybees which can vary substantially.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Impact of Chronic Neonicotinoid Exposure on Honeybee Colony Performance and Queen Supersedure

et al. 2014

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“…Previous literature review 27 have already shown that some pesticides (pyrethroids) have greater toxicity at low temperatures (for example, below 28-30°C), which could be related with impairments of neural mechanisms of thermogenesis rather than with troubles of flight muscular coordination or metabolic rate. Neonicotinoids may, however, involve different toxicological pathways.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pesticide risk assessment in free-ranging bees is weather and landscape dependent

et al. 2014

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The risk assessment of plant protection products on pollinators is currently based on the evaluation of lethal doses through repeatable lethal toxicity laboratory trials. Recent advances in honeybee toxicology have, however, raised interest on assessing sublethal effects in free-ranging individuals. Here, we show that the sublethal effects of a neonicotinoid pesticide are modified in magnitude by environmental interactions specific to the landscape and time of exposure events. Field sublethal assessment is therefore context dependent and should be addressed in a temporally and spatially explicit way, especially regarding weather and landscape physiognomy. We further develop an analytical Effective Dose (ED) framework to help disentangle context-induced from treatment-induced effects and thus to alleviate uncertainty in field studies. Although the ED framework involves trials at concentrations above the expected field exposure levels, it allows to explicitly delineating the climatic and landscape contexts that should be targeted for in-depth higher tier risk assessment.

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“…However, there has been an apparent shift in attention to the sublethal effects of insecticides, which may compromise individual fitness and contribute to colony decline (Valdovinos-Núñez et al, 2009;Brittain et al, 2010;Johnson et al, 2010;Bryden et al, 2013). Such effects include developmental alterations, longevity and queen production declines, neural disturbances, memory and learning impairments, and walking and foraging disabilities (Decourtye et al, 2004a,b;Yang et al, 2008;Belzunces et al, 2012;Henry et al, 2012;Tomé et al, 2012). Pyrethroids, the phenylpyrazole insecticide fipronil, and neonicotinoids in particular have been the main focus of these studies, instigating intense debates and calls for banning their use in Europe (Blacquière et al, 2012;European Food Safety Authority, 2013;Gross, 2013) and restricting their use in other countries, such as in Brazil (Instituto Nacional do Meio Ambiente e Recursos Naturais Renováveis, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spinosad in the native stingless bee Melipona quadrifasciata: Regrettable non-target toxicity of a bioinsecticide

et al. 2015

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The risks imposed by novel insecticides, mainly bioinsecticides, are largely unknown despite their increased use and their perceived environmental safety, which is based on their natural origin. Furthermore, unlike honeybees, native pollinator species have received little attention. In the present study, the lethal and sublethal effects of the neonicotinoid imidacloprid and the bioinsecticide spinosad were assessed in the stingless bee species Meliponaquadrifasciata, an important native pollinator in the Neotropical region. The adult stingless bee workers exhibited high oral insecticide susceptibility, with LD50s of 23.54 and 12.07 ng a.i./bee for imidacloprid and spinosad, respectively. Imidacloprid also impaired worker respiration and overall group activity and flight, while spinosad significantly impaired only worker flight despite exhibiting higher oral toxicity to adult workers than imidacloprid. These findings indicate the hazardous nature not only of imidacloprid but also the bioinsecticide spinosad to adult workers of the native pollinator M. quadrifasciata. Therefore, bioinsecticides should not be exempted from risk assessment analysis due to their lethal and sublethal components.

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Neural effects of insecticides in the honey bee

Cited by 171 publications

References 223 publications

Impact of Chronic Neonicotinoid Exposure on Honeybee Colony Performance and Queen Supersedure

Impact of Chronic Neonicotinoid Exposure on Honeybee Colony Performance and Queen Supersedure

Pesticide risk assessment in free-ranging bees is weather and landscape dependent

Spinosad in the native stingless bee Melipona quadrifasciata: Regrettable non-target toxicity of a bioinsecticide

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