Departamento de Entomologia, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, 36570-900 Viçosa, MG, Brazil.
Departamento de Entomologia, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, 36570-900 Viçosa, MG, Brazil; Departamento de Entomologia, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Lavras, MG 37200-000, Brazil.
Sci Total Environ. 2021 Jul 20;779:146432. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.146432. Epub 2021 Mar 17.
Stingless bees such as Partamona helleri Friese play important roles in pollination of native plants and agricultural crops in the Neotropics. Global concerns about declining bee populations due to agrochemical pollutants have, however, been biased towards the honey bee, Apis mellifera Linnaeus. Here, we analysed the unintended effects of commercial formulations of a neonicotinoid insecticide, imidacloprid, and a fungicide mixture of thiophanate-methyl and chlorothalonil on color preference, respiration rates and group locomotory activities of both P. helleri and A. mellifera. Our results revealed that P. helleri foragers that were not exposed to pesticides changed their color preference during the course of a year. By contrast, we found that pesticide exposure altered the color preference of stingless bees in a concentration-dependent manner. In addition, imidacloprid decreased the overall locomotion of both bee species, whereas the fungicide mixture increased locomotion of only stingless bees. The fungicide mixture also reduced respiration rates of forager bees of both species. Forager bees of both species altered their color preference, but not their locomotory and respiration rates, when exposed to commercial formulations of each fungicidal mixture component (i.e., chlorothalonil and thiophanate-methyl). Our findings emphasize the importance of P. helleri as a model for Neotropical wild pollinator species in pesticide risk assessments, and also the critical importance of including groups of agrochemicals that are often considered to have minimal impact on pollinators, such as fungicides.
无刺蜜蜂，如 Partamona helleri Friese，在新热带地区的本地植物和农业作物的授粉中发挥着重要作用。然而，由于农业化学污染物导致蜜蜂数量下降，全球对蜜蜂的关注一直偏向于西方蜜蜂，Apis mellifera Linnaeus。在这里，我们分析了商业配方的新烟碱类杀虫剂，吡虫啉，和杀菌剂混合物甲基硫菌灵和百菌清对 P. helleri 和 A. mellifera 的颜色偏好、呼吸率和群体运动活动的意外影响。我们的结果表明，没有接触过农药的 P. helleri 觅食者在一年的过程中改变了它们的颜色偏好。相比之下，我们发现农药暴露以浓度依赖的方式改变了无刺蜜蜂的颜色偏好。此外，吡虫啉降低了两种蜜蜂的整体运动，而杀菌剂混合物仅增加了无刺蜜蜂的运动。杀菌剂混合物还降低了两种蜜蜂觅食者的呼吸率。当接触到每种杀菌剂混合物成分（即百菌清和甲基硫菌灵）的商业配方时，两种蜜蜂的觅食者都改变了它们的颜色偏好，但没有改变它们的运动和呼吸率。我们的研究结果强调了 P. helleri 作为新热带地区野生传粉者物种在农药风险评估中的模型的重要性，也强调了包括通常被认为对传粉者影响最小的农药组（如杀菌剂）的重要性。
