Arizona State University, School of Life Sciences, Tempe, Arizona, USA.
Union College, Division of Science and Mathematics, Lincoln, Nebraska, 68505, USA.
Sci Rep. 2019 Mar 12;9(1):4253. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-40396-x.
Heavy metal toxicity is an ecological concern in regions affected by processes like mining, industry, and agriculture. At sufficiently high concentrations, heavy metals are lethal to honey bees, but little is known about how sublethal doses affect honey bees or whether they will consume contaminated food. We investigated whether honey bees reject sucrose solutions contaminated with three heavy metals - cadmium, copper, and lead - as a measure of their ability to detect the metals, and whether ingesting these metals altered the bees' sucrose sensitivity. The metals elicited three different response profiles in honey bees. Cadmium was not rejected in any of the assays, and ingesting cadmium did not alter sucrose sensitivity. Copper was rejected following antennal stimulation, but was readily consumed following proboscis stimulation. Ingestion of copper did not alter sucrose sensitivity. Lead appeared to be palatable at some concentrations and altered the bees' sensitivity to and/or valuation of sucrose following antennal stimulation or ingestion of the metal. These differences likely represent unique mechanisms for detecting each metal and the pathology of toxicity. The bees' ability to detect and consume these toxic metals highlights the risk of exposure to these elements for bees living in or near contaminated environments.
重金属毒性是受采矿、工业和农业等过程影响的地区的生态关注点。在足够高的浓度下，重金属对蜜蜂是致命的，但人们对亚致死剂量如何影响蜜蜂，以及它们是否会食用受污染的食物知之甚少。我们研究了蜜蜂是否会拒绝含有三种重金属（镉、铜和铅）的蔗糖溶液，以衡量它们检测金属的能力，以及摄入这些金属是否会改变它们对蔗糖的敏感性。这些金属在蜜蜂中引起了三种不同的反应模式。镉在任何检测中都没有被拒绝，摄入镉也不会改变蔗糖的敏感性。铜在触角刺激后被拒绝，但在口器刺激后很容易被消耗。摄入铜不会改变对蔗糖的敏感性。铅在某些浓度下似乎是可口的，并且在触角刺激或摄入金属后改变了蜜蜂对蔗糖的敏感性和/或评价。这些差异可能代表了检测每种金属的独特机制和毒性的病理学。蜜蜂检测和消耗这些有毒金属的能力突出了生活在污染环境或附近的蜜蜂暴露于这些元素的风险。
