In high doses, a new pesticide impairs the taste and learning capabilities as well as the memory of bees.

Credit: Ricarda Scheiner

Scientists from the University of Würzburg have investigated the impact of a new pesticide on the honeybee. In high doses, it has a negative impact on the insects' taste and cognition ability.

In February 2018, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) confirmed that the pesticide group of neonicotinoids is harmful to bees. A novel pesticide manufactured by Bayer AG is therefore being discussed as an alternative; it contains flupyradifurone from the class of butenolides. The product goes by the brand name of Sivanto.

Sivanto is assumed to be effective against various sucking insects such as aphids and whiteflies and can be used on a number of fruit and vegetable crops but also on cocoa and coffee plants. Advertised as bee-friendly, the pesticide can even be applied on flowering fields. It has been available in the US market since 2015. In the EU, it is approved but not yet available.

Measurable impact on honeybees

Scientists from the University of Würzburg have now investigated the effect of flupyradifurone on honeybee behaviour. The study is led by Ricarda Scheiner, Professor for Neuroethology of Arthropods at the Department of Behavioural Physiology and Sociobiology (Zoology II) and Hannah Hesselbach, her PhD student. The scientists have published their findings in the current issue of the journal Nature Scientific Reports.

"Our data show that non-lethal doses of flupyradifurone after a single application to collecting honeybees have a negative impact on the bees' taste, learning and memory capability," Ricarda Scheiner sums up the study result.

Read more at https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180405100143.htm