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Runnion EN, Strange JP, Sivakoff FS. Consumption of pollen contaminated with field-realistic concentrations of fungicide causes sublethal effects in Bombus impatiens (Hymenoptera: Apidae) microcolonies. ENVIRONMENTAL ENTOMOLOGY 2024:nvae049. [PMID: 38801278 DOI: 10.1093/ee/nvae049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2023] [Revised: 04/17/2024] [Accepted: 05/07/2024] [Indexed: 05/29/2024]
Abstract
Bumble bees are declining across the globe. The causes of this decline have been attributed to a variety of stressors, including pesticides. Fungicides are a type of pesticide that has been understudied in the context of bumble bee health. As a result, fungicides are often applied to flowering plants without consideration of pollinator exposure. Recent work demonstrates that fungicides have sublethal effects in bumble bees, but little is known about how much fungicide it takes to cause these sublethal effects. To address this gap in the literature, we fed microcolonies of the common eastern bumble bee (Bombus impatiens CressonHymenoptera: ApidaeHymenoptera: ApidaeHymenoptera: ApidaeHymenoptera: Apidae) pollen contaminated with a range of fungicide concentrations. We chose these concentrations based on the range of fungicide concentrations in pollen and nectar that were reported in the literature. Results revealed that later-stage pupae and newly emerged males are potentially sensitive to fungicide exposure, showing smaller size and reduced fat reserves at intermediate levels of contamination. Compared to the control, intermediated levels of fungicide-contaminated pollen led to increased pupal mortality and delayed male emergence. Contrary to expectations, higher fungicide levels did not exhibit a linear relationship with negative impacts, suggesting nuanced effects. Because body size and emergence timing are important aspects of bumble bee reproductive behavior, results have implications for mating success, potentially disrupting colony development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily N Runnion
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University, 300 Aronoff Laboratories, 318 W. 12th Avenue, Columbus, OH 4321, USA
| | - James P Strange
- Department of Entomology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 2021, USA
| | - Frances S Sivakoff
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University, 300 Aronoff Laboratories, 318 W. 12th Avenue, Columbus, OH 4321, USA
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Schuhmann A, Schulte J, Feldhaar H, Scheiner R. Bumblebees are resilient to neonicotinoid-fungicide combinations. ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL 2024; 186:108608. [PMID: 38554503 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2024.108608] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2023] [Revised: 03/22/2024] [Accepted: 03/25/2024] [Indexed: 04/01/2024]
Abstract
Bumblebees are among the most important wild bees for pollination of crops and securing wildflower diversity. However, their abundance and diversity have been on a steady decrease in the last decades. One of the most important factors leading to their decline is the frequent use of plant protection products (PPPs) in agriculture, which spread into forests and natural reserves. Mixtures of different PPPs pose a particular threat because of possible synergistic effects. While there is a comparatively large body of studies on the effects of PPPs on honeybees, we still lack data on wild bees. We here investigated the influence of the frequent fungicide Cantus® Gold (boscalid/dimoxystrobin), the neonicotinoid insecticide Mospilan® (acetamiprid) and their combination on bumblebees. Cognitive performance and foraging flights of bumblebees were studied. They are essential for the provisioning and survival of the colony. We introduce a novel method for testing four treatments simultaneously on the same colony, minimizing inter-colony differences. For this, we successfully quartered the colony and moved the queen daily between compartments. Bumblebees appeared astonishingly resilient to the PPPs tested or they have developed mechanisms for detoxification. Neither learning capacity nor flight activity were inhibited by treatment with the single PPPs or their combination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonia Schuhmann
- Biocenter, Behavioral Physiology and Sociobiology, University of Würzburg, 97074 Würzburg, Germany.
| | - Janna Schulte
- Institute of Biology and Environmental Sciences, University of Oldenburg, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Heike Feldhaar
- Department of Animal Ecology I, Bayreuth Center for Ecology and Environmental Research (BayCEER), University of Bayreuth, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Ricarda Scheiner
- Biocenter, Behavioral Physiology and Sociobiology, University of Würzburg, 97074 Würzburg, Germany
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Fischer N, Costa CP, Hur M, Kirkwood JS, Woodard SH. Impacts of neonicotinoid insecticides on bumble bee energy metabolism are revealed under nectar starvation. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 912:169388. [PMID: 38104805 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.169388] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2023] [Revised: 12/11/2023] [Accepted: 12/12/2023] [Indexed: 12/19/2023]
Abstract
Bumble bees are an important group of insects that provide essential pollination services as a consequence of their foraging behaviors. These pollination services are driven, in part, by energetic exchanges between flowering plants and individual bees. Thus, it is important to examine bumble bee energy metabolism and explore how it might be influenced by external stressors contributing to declines in global pollinator populations. Two stressors that are commonly encountered by bees are insecticides, such as the neonicotinoids, and nutritional stress, resulting from deficits in pollen and nectar availability. Our study uses a metabolomic approach to examine the effects of neonicotinoid insecticide exposure on bumble bee metabolism, both alone and in combination with nutritional stress. We hypothesized that exposure to imidacloprid disrupts bumble bee energy metabolism, leading to changes in key metabolites involved in central carbon metabolism. We tested this by exposing Bombus impatiens workers to imidacloprid according to one of three exposure paradigms designed to explore how chronic versus more acute (early or late) imidacloprid exposure influences energy metabolite levels, then also subjecting them to artificial nectar starvation. The strongest effects of imidacloprid were observed when bees also experienced nectar starvation, suggesting a combinatorial effect of neonicotinoids and nutritional stress on bumble bee energy metabolism. Overall, this study provides important insights into the mechanisms underlying the impact of neonicotinoid insecticides on pollinators, and underscores the need for further investigation into the complex interactions between environmental stressors and energy metabolism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalie Fischer
- Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA.
| | - Claudinéia P Costa
- Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA
| | - Manhoi Hur
- IIGB Metabolomics Core Facility, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA
| | - Jay S Kirkwood
- IIGB Metabolomics Core Facility, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA
| | - S Hollis Woodard
- Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA.
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Murcia-Morales M, Tzanetou EN, García-Gallego G, Kasiotis KM, Vejsnaes F, Brodschneider R, Hatjina F, Machera K, Van der Steen JJ. Environmental assessment of PAHs through honey bee colonies - A matrix selection study. Heliyon 2024; 10:e23564. [PMID: 38187233 PMCID: PMC10770451 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e23564] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2023] [Revised: 11/12/2023] [Accepted: 12/06/2023] [Indexed: 01/09/2024] Open
Abstract
The steady conditions of temperature, humidity and air flux within beehives make them a valuable location for conducting environmental monitoring of pollutants such as PAHs. In this context, the selection of an appropriate apicultural matrix plays a key role in these monitoring studies, as it maximizes the information that will be obtained in the analyses while minimizing the inaccurate results. In the present study, three apicultural matrices (honey bees, pollen and propolis) and two passive samplers (APIStrips and silicone wristbands) are compared in terms of the number and total load of PAHs detected in them. Samplings took place in a total of 11 apiaries scattered in Austria, Denmark, and Greece, with analyses performed by GC-MS/MS. Up to 14 different PAHs were identified in silicone wristbands and pollen, whereas the remaining matrices contained a maximum of five contaminants. Naphthalene, 1-methylnaphthalene, 2-methylnaphthalene, and pyrene were found to be the most prevalent substances in the environment. Recovery studies were also performed; these suggested that the chemical structure of APIStrips is likely to produce very strong interactions with PAHs, thus hindering the adequate desorption of these substances from their surface. Overall, silicone wristbands placed inside the beehives proved the most suitable matrix for PAH monitoring through honey bee colonies.
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Affiliation(s)
- María Murcia-Morales
- Chemistry and Physics Department, University of Almeria, Agrifood Campus of International Excellence (ceiA3), 04120 Almería, Spain
| | - Evangelia N. Tzanetou
- Laboratory of Chemical Control of Pesticides, Department of Pesticides Control and Phytopharmacy, Benaki Phytopathological Institute, 145 61 Kifissia, Greece
| | - Guillermo García-Gallego
- Chemistry and Physics Department, University of Almeria, Agrifood Campus of International Excellence (ceiA3), 04120 Almería, Spain
| | - Konstantinos M. Kasiotis
- Laboratory of Pesticides' Toxicology, Department of Pesticides Control and Phytopharmacy, Benaki Phytopathological Institute, 145 61 Kifissia, Greece
| | | | - Robert Brodschneider
- Institute of Biology, University of Graz, Universitätsplatz 2, 8010 Graz, Austria
| | - Fani Hatjina
- Department of Apiculture, Institute of Animal Science, Ellinikos Georgikos Organismos ‘DIMITRA’, Nea Moudania GR-63200, Greece
| | - Kyriaki Machera
- Laboratory of Pesticides' Toxicology, Department of Pesticides Control and Phytopharmacy, Benaki Phytopathological Institute, 145 61 Kifissia, Greece
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Paula MCD, Batista NR, Cunha DADS, Santos PGD, Antonialli-Junior WF, Cardoso CAL, Simionatto E. Impacts of the insecticide thiamethoxam on the native stingless bee Plebeia catamarcensis (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Meliponini). ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (BARKING, ESSEX : 1987) 2023; 339:122742. [PMID: 37839683 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.122742] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2023] [Revised: 10/11/2023] [Accepted: 10/12/2023] [Indexed: 10/17/2023]
Abstract
Agricultural production and the indiscriminate use of insecticides such as thiamethoxam have put at risk the biodiversity and ecosystem services provided by bees, including native stingless species. Since most of the native species do not present economic importance, they may suffer "silent extinction", due to lack of monitoring of their colonies. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the lethal and sublethal concentrations of the insecticide thiamethoxam, with evaluation of its sublethal effects on mobility, in the stingless bee Plebeia catamarcensis (Holmberg, 1903). Foraging bees were collected and exposed to thiamethoxam to determine lethal (LC50) and sublethal concentrations. The 24 h LC50 was 0.408 ng a.i./μL, a value demonstrating that this species may be as sensitive as other stingless bees already studied. Sublethal concentrations influenced the locomotion abilities of the bees, making them hyperactive when exposed to LC50/10 and lethargic when exposed to LC50/100. The effects of sublethal concentrations on individuals may have collective consequences, especially in colonies with few individuals, as is the case of P. catamarcensis. The findings reinforce the hypothesis that thiamethoxam may contribute to the decline of native stingless bees, which can be significantly impacted when chronically exposed to agricultural production systems that use this insecticide, consequently affecting the ecosystem services provided by these bees.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michele Castro de Paula
- Laboratório de Óleos e Extratos (LAPOEX), Programa de Pós-Graduação em Recursos Naturais (PGRN), Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso do Sul (UEMS), CEP, 79950-000, Naviraí, MS, Brazil; Programa de Pós-Graduação em Recursos Naturais (PGRN), Centro de Estudos em Recursos Naturais (CERNA), Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso do Sul (UEMS), PC 351, CEP, 79804-970, Dourados, MS, Brazil.
| | - Nathan Rodrigues Batista
- Laboratório de Ecologia Comportamental (LABECO), Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso do Sul (UEMS), CP 351, CEP, 79804-970, Dourados, MS, Brazil; Programa de Pós-Graduação em Entomologia e Conservação da Biodiversidade, Universidade Federal da Grande Dourados (UFGD), PC 533, CEP, 79804-970, Dourados, MS, Brazil.
| | - Dayana Alves da Silva Cunha
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Recursos Naturais (PGRN), Centro de Estudos em Recursos Naturais (CERNA), Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso do Sul (UEMS), PC 351, CEP, 79804-970, Dourados, MS, Brazil; Laboratório de Ecologia Comportamental (LABECO), Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso do Sul (UEMS), CP 351, CEP, 79804-970, Dourados, MS, Brazil.
| | - Poliana Galvão Dos Santos
- Laboratório de Ecologia Comportamental (LABECO), Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso do Sul (UEMS), CP 351, CEP, 79804-970, Dourados, MS, Brazil; Programa de Pós-Graduação em Entomologia e Conservação da Biodiversidade, Universidade Federal da Grande Dourados (UFGD), PC 533, CEP, 79804-970, Dourados, MS, Brazil.
| | - William Fernando Antonialli-Junior
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Recursos Naturais (PGRN), Centro de Estudos em Recursos Naturais (CERNA), Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso do Sul (UEMS), PC 351, CEP, 79804-970, Dourados, MS, Brazil; Laboratório de Ecologia Comportamental (LABECO), Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso do Sul (UEMS), CP 351, CEP, 79804-970, Dourados, MS, Brazil; Programa de Pós-Graduação em Entomologia e Conservação da Biodiversidade, Universidade Federal da Grande Dourados (UFGD), PC 533, CEP, 79804-970, Dourados, MS, Brazil.
| | - Claudia Andrea Lima Cardoso
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Recursos Naturais (PGRN), Centro de Estudos em Recursos Naturais (CERNA), Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso do Sul (UEMS), PC 351, CEP, 79804-970, Dourados, MS, Brazil.
| | - Euclésio Simionatto
- Laboratório de Óleos e Extratos (LAPOEX), Programa de Pós-Graduação em Recursos Naturais (PGRN), Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso do Sul (UEMS), CEP, 79950-000, Naviraí, MS, Brazil; Programa de Pós-Graduação em Recursos Naturais (PGRN), Centro de Estudos em Recursos Naturais (CERNA), Universidade Estadual de Mato Grosso do Sul (UEMS), PC 351, CEP, 79804-970, Dourados, MS, Brazil.
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