Abstract
Queen health is crucial to colony survival of social bees. Recently, queen failure has been proposed to be a major driver of managed honey bee colony losses, yet few data exist concerning effects of environmental stressors on queens. Here we demonstrate for the first time that exposure to field-realistic concentrations of neonicotinoid pesticides during development can severely affect queens of western honey bees (Apis mellifera). In pesticide-exposed queens, reproductive anatomy (ovaries) and physiology (spermathecal-stored sperm quality and quantity), rather than flight behaviour, were compromised and likely corresponded to reduced queen success (alive and producing worker offspring). This study highlights the detriments of neonicotinoids to queens of environmentally and economically important social bees, and further strengthens the need for stringent risk assessments to safeguard biodiversity and ecosystem services that are vulnerable to these substances.
Highlights
Environmentally-relevant concentrations of the common neonicotinoid pesticides thiamethoxam and clothianidin
The results demonstrate for the first time possible mechanisms by which exposure to field-realistic concentrations of neonicotinoid pesticides during development can significantly affect queens of a social bee
Increased rates of honey bee queen failure have been reported in recent years[21]
Summary
Environmentally-relevant concentrations of the common neonicotinoid pesticides thiamethoxam and clothianidin. Both pesticides are widely applied in global agro-ecosystems[17] and are accessible to pollinators such as social bees[18], but are currently subjected to two years of restricted use in the European Union because of concerns over their safety[19]. Flight behaviour was observed daily for 14 days, whereas production of worker offspring was observed weekly for 4 weeks. Surviving queens were sacrificed to examine their reproductive systems
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