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Bumblebee learning and memory impaired by thiamethoxam
Nov. 23, 2015
A research report published on Nature.com shows that field-realistic thiamethoxam exposure can have appreciable impacts bumblebees’ learning and memory, with potential implications for essential individual behaviour and colony fitness.
Bumblebees are exposed to pesticides applied for crop protection while foraging on treated plants, with increasing evidence suggesting that this sublethal exposure has implications for pollinator declines. The challenges of navigating and learning to manipulate many different flowers underline the critical role learning plays for the foraging success and survival of bees.
The scientists from UK and Canada assessed the impacts of both acute and chronic exposure to field-realistic levels of a widely applied neonicotinoid insecticide, thiamethoxam, on bumblebee odour learning and memory. Although bees exposed to acute doses showed conditioned responses less frequently than controls, they found no difference in the number of individuals able to learn at field-realistic exposure levels. However, following chronic pesticide exposure, bees exposed to field-realistic levels learnt more slowly and their short-term memory was significantly impaired following exposure to 2.4 ppb pesticide.
Learn more about this study on Nature.com.
Source: Nature
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