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Neonicotinoid pesticides severely affect honey bee queens

dc.contributor.authorWilliams, Geoffrey R.
dc.contributor.authorTroxler, Aline
dc.contributor.authorRetsching, Gina
dc.contributor.authorRoth, Kaspar
dc.contributor.authorYanez, Orlando
dc.contributor.authorShutler, Dave
dc.contributor.authorNeumann, Peter
dc.contributor.authorGauthier, Laurent
dc.date.accessioned2015-11-16T06:40:54Z
dc.date.available2015-11-16T06:40:54Z
dc.date.issued2015-10-13
dc.description.abstractQueen health is crucial to colony survival of social bees. Recently, queen failure has been proposed to be a major driver of managed honey bee colony losses, yet few data exist concerning effects of environmental stressors on queens. Here we demonstrate for the first time that exposure to fieldrealistic concentrations of neonicotinoid pesticides during development can severely affect queens of western honey bees (Apis mellifera). In pesticide-exposed queens, reproductive anatomy (ovaries) and physiology (spermathecal-stored sperm quality and quantity), rather than flight behaviour, were compromised and likely corresponded to reduced queen success (alive and producing worker offspring). This study highlights the detriments of neonicotinoids to queens of environmentally and economically important social bees, and further strengthens the need for stringent risk assessments to safeguard biodiversity and ecosystem services that are vulnerable to these substances.en_ZA
dc.description.librarianam2015en_ZA
dc.description.sponsorshipThe Vinetum Foundation, the Ricola Foundation - Nature and Culture, and the Swiss National Science Foundation.en_ZA
dc.description.urihttp://www.nature.com/scientificreportsen_ZA
dc.identifier.citationWilliams, GR, Troxler, A, Retschnig, G, Roth, K, Yañez, O, Shutler, D, Neumann, P & Gauthier, L 2015, 'Neonicotinoid pesticides severely affect honey bee queens', Scientific Reports, vol. 5, art. no. 14621, pp. 1-8 ; DOI: 10.1038/srep14621.en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn2045-2322
dc.identifier.other10.1038/srep14621
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/50474
dc.language.isoenen_ZA
dc.publisherNature Publishing Groupen_ZA
dc.rights© 2015 [Author et al] This is an open-access article distributed underthe terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.en_ZA
dc.subjectQueen healthen_ZA
dc.subjectSocial beesen_ZA
dc.subjectQueen failureen_ZA
dc.subjectHoneybee (Apis mellifera)en_ZA
dc.titleNeonicotinoid pesticides severely affect honey bee queensen_ZA
dc.typeArticleen_ZA

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