Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Neonicotinoid pesticide reduces bumble bee colony growth and queen production
AU - Whitehorn, Penelope R.
AU - O'Connor, Stephanie
AU - Wackers, Felix L.
AU - Goulson, Dave
PY - 2012/4/20
Y1 - 2012/4/20
N2 - Growing evidence for declines in bee populations has caused great concern because of the valuable ecosystem services they provide. Neonicotinoid insecticides have been implicated in these declines because they occur at trace levels in the nectar and pollen of crop plants. We exposed colonies of the bumble bee Bombus terrestris in the laboratory to field-realistic levels of the neonicotinoid imidacloprid, then allowed them to develop naturally under field conditions. Treated colonies had a significantly reduced growth rate and suffered an 85% reduction in production of new queens compared with control colonies. Given the scale of use of neonicotinoids, we suggest that they may be having a considerable negative impact on wild bumble bee populations across the developed world.
AB - Growing evidence for declines in bee populations has caused great concern because of the valuable ecosystem services they provide. Neonicotinoid insecticides have been implicated in these declines because they occur at trace levels in the nectar and pollen of crop plants. We exposed colonies of the bumble bee Bombus terrestris in the laboratory to field-realistic levels of the neonicotinoid imidacloprid, then allowed them to develop naturally under field conditions. Treated colonies had a significantly reduced growth rate and suffered an 85% reduction in production of new queens compared with control colonies. Given the scale of use of neonicotinoids, we suggest that they may be having a considerable negative impact on wild bumble bee populations across the developed world.
KW - Animals
KW - Bees
KW - Feeding Behavior
KW - Female
KW - Imidazoles
KW - Insecticides
KW - Male
KW - Nitro Compounds
KW - Pollen
KW - Population Dynamics
KW - Random Allocation
KW - Reproduction
KW - Weight Gain
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84859988257&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1126/science.1215025
DO - 10.1126/science.1215025
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 22461500
VL - 336
SP - 351
EP - 352
JO - Science
JF - Science
SN - 0036-8075
IS - 6079
ER -