University of Würzburg, Biocenter, Behavioral Physiology and Sociobiology, Am Hubland, 97074, Würzburg, Germany.
Sci Rep. 2018 Mar 21;8(1):4954. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-23200-0.
Due to intensive agriculture honeybees are threatened by various pesticides. The use of one group of them, the neonicotinoids, was recently restricted by the European Union. These chemicals bind to the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAchR) in the honeybee brain. Recently, Bayer AG released a new pesticide by the name of "Sivanto" against sucking insects. It is assumed to be harmless for honeybees, although its active ingredient, flupyradifurone, binds nAchR similar to the neonicotinoids. We investigated if this pesticide affects the taste for sugar and cognitive performance in honeybee foragers. These bees are directly exposed to the pesticide while foraging for pollen or nectar. Our results demonstrate that flupyradifurone can reduce taste and appetitive learning performance in honeybees foraging for pollen and nectar, although only the highest concentration had significant effects. Most likely, honeybee foragers will not be exposed to these high concentrations. Therefore, the appropriate use of this pesticide is considered safe for honeybees, at least with respect to the behaviors studied here.
由于集约化农业，蜜蜂受到各种杀虫剂的威胁。最近，欧盟限制了一类杀虫剂的使用，即新烟碱类。这些化学物质与蜜蜂大脑中的烟碱型乙酰胆碱受体（nAchR）结合。最近，拜耳公司（Bayer AG）推出了一种名为“Sivanto”的新型杀虫剂，用于防治吮吸类昆虫。尽管其有效成分氟吡呋喃酮（flupyradifurone）与新烟碱类相似，与 nAchR 结合，但据称对蜜蜂无害。我们研究了这种杀虫剂是否会影响采集蜂对糖的味觉和认知表现。这些蜜蜂在采集花粉或花蜜时直接暴露于该杀虫剂。我们的结果表明，氟吡呋喃酮可以降低采集花粉和花蜜的蜜蜂的味觉和食欲学习能力，尽管只有最高浓度才有显著影响。很可能，蜜蜂采集者不会接触到这些高浓度的杀虫剂。因此，这种杀虫剂的合理使用被认为对蜜蜂是安全的，至少就这里研究的行为而言是安全的。
