Effect of acute pesticide exposure on bee spatial working memory using an analogue of the radial-arm maze.

ABSTRACT: Pesticides, including neonicotinoids, typically target pest insects by being neurotoxic. Inadvertent exposure to foraging insect pollinators is usually sub-lethal, but may affect cognition. One cognitive trait, spatial working memory, may be important in avoiding previously-visited flowers and other spatial tasks such as navigation. To test this, we investigated the effect of acute thiamethoxam exposure on spatial working memory in the bumblebee Bombus terrestris, using an adaptation of the radial-arm maze (RAM). We first demonstrated that bumblebees use spatial working memory to solve the RAM by showing that untreated bees performed significantly better than would be expected if choices were random or governed by stereotyped visitation rules. We then exposed bees to either a high sub-leth

SUBMITTER: Samuelson EE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5154185 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature