General and species-specific impacts of a neonicotinoid insecticide on the ovary development and feeding of wild bumblebee queens.

ABSTRACT: Bumblebees are essential pollinators of crops and wild plants, but are in decline across the globe. Neonicotinoid pesticides have been implicated as a potential driver of these declines, but most of our evidence base comes from studies of a single species. There is an urgent need to understand whether such results can be generalized across a range of species. Here, we present results of a laboratory experiment testing the impacts of field-relevant doses (1.87-5.32 ppb) of the neonicotinoid thiamethoxam on spring-caught wild queens of four bumblebee species: Bombus terrestris, B. lucorum, B. pratorum and B. pascuorum. Two weeks of exposure to the higher concentration of thiamethoxam caused a reduction in feeding in two out of four species, suggesting species-spec

SUBMITTER: Baron GL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5443941 | biostudies-literature | 2017 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature