Huang Ethan W, Fahrbach Susan E
Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, 27109, USA.
Sci Rep. 2025 Jul 1;15(1):20867. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-06466-z.
Amitraz is a formamidine acaricide applied to hives to manage Varroa destructor, an ectoparasite of honey bees. As a high affinity octopaminergic agonist it is potentially neuroactive. Previous studies have described various effects or no effects of exposure to amitraz on honey bee sucrose sensitivity, learning, and memory but have not factored in age at exposure as a variable. This study conducted gustatory response assays, learning trials, and memory recall trials to examine the effects of amitraz on honey bee behavior. Topical application of acetone, the solvent vehicle, decreased sucrose sensitivity in newly emerged and foraging age honey bees; addition of amitraz to the acetone restored sucrose sensitivity to levels shown by untreated controls. Amitraz produced subtle effects on learning and memory in intermediate age and foraging age bees, whereas acetone treatment alone hindered performance. These results are consistent with prior demonstrations that stimulation of octopamine receptors increases sensitivity to sucrose but do not allow us to assess if amitraz facilitates olfactory learning. The effects of acetone were surprising, given its prior use as a neutral solvent in insect behavioral and toxicological studies. The results support use of alternative solvent vehicles in future studies.
双甲脒是一种脒类杀螨剂，用于蜂箱以防治蜜蜂的体外寄生虫——狄斯瓦螨。作为一种高亲和力的章鱼胺能激动剂，它可能具有神经活性。先前的研究描述了接触双甲脒对蜜蜂蔗糖敏感性、学习和记忆的各种影响或无影响，但未将接触时的年龄作为一个变量考虑在内。本研究进行了味觉反应试验、学习试验和记忆回忆试验，以检验双甲脒对蜜蜂行为的影响。局部涂抹溶剂丙酮会降低新羽化和觅食期蜜蜂的蔗糖敏感性；在丙酮中添加双甲脒可将蔗糖敏感性恢复到未处理对照组所示的水平。双甲脒对中年和觅食期蜜蜂的学习和记忆产生了细微影响，而单独使用丙酮处理则会阻碍其表现。这些结果与先前的研究结果一致，即刺激章鱼胺受体会增加对蔗糖的敏感性，但我们无法评估双甲脒是否有助于嗅觉学习。鉴于丙酮此前在昆虫行为和毒理学研究中用作中性溶剂，其影响令人惊讶。研究结果支持在未来的研究中使用替代溶剂。
