Journal
ANNALS OF APPLIED BIOLOGY
Volume 167, Issue 2, Pages 186-196Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/aab.12217
Keywords
Behavioural impact; biopesticides; colony and individual level effects; native bee pollinators; sublethal effects
Categories
Funding
- Arthur Bernardes Foundation (Funarbe)
- Minas Gerais State Foundation for Research Aid (FAPEMIG)
- National Council of Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq)
- CAPES Foundation
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As honeybees are the main pollinator subject to an intense research regarding effects of pesticides, other ecologically important native bee pollinators have received little attention in ecotoxicology and risk assessment of pesticides in general, and insecticides in particular, some of which are perceived as reduced-risk compounds. Here, the impact of three reduced-risk insecticides - azadirachtin, spinosad and chlorantraniliprole - was assessed in two species of stingless bees, Partamona helleri and Scaptotrigona xanthotrica, which are important native pollinators in Neotropical America. The neonicotinoid imidacloprid was used as a positive control. Spinosad exhibited high oral and contact toxicities in adult workers of both species at the recommended label rates, with median survival times (LT(50)s) ranging from 1 to 4 h, whereas these estimates were below 15 min for imidacloprid. Azadirachtin and chlorantraniliprole exhibited low toxicity at the recommended label rates, with negligible mortality that did not allow LT50 estimation. Sublethal behavioural assessments of these two insecticides indicated that neither one of them affected the overall group activity of workers of the two species. However, both azadirachtin and chlorantraniliprole impaired individual flight take-off of P. helleri and S. xanthotrica worker bees, which may compromise foraging activity, potentially leading to reduced colony survival. These findings challenge the common perception of non-target safety of reduced-risk insecticides and bioinsecticides, particularly regarding native pollinator species.
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