Bumblebees

Honey bees are exposed to a wealth of synergistically interacting stress factors, which may induce colony losses often associated with high infection levels of pathogens. Neonicotinoid insecticides have been reported to enhance the impact of pathogens, but the underlying immune alteration is still obscure. In this study we describe the molecular mechanism through which clothianidin adversely affects the insect immune response and promotes replication of a viral pathogen in honey bees bearing covert infections. Our results shed light on a further level of regulation of the immune response in insects and have implications for bee conservation.

A study published in the journal Science, reveals that the number of slugs, spiders, worms and other invertebrates has fallen by 45 per cent over the past 35 years. Experts fear this will harm the planet as creepy crawlies play an important role in pollinating crops, pest control, decomposition and ensuring soil remains packed with nutrients, as well as water filtration. In the UK the number of beetles, butterflies, bees and wasps has fallen by up to 60 per cent. Experts warn that fewer insects would have a huge effect on crop production as up to 75 percent are pollinated by insects, amounting to around 10 per cent of the world's food supply. Scientists fear a drop in the insect population could also spark a decline in birds, which prey on pests that damage crops, and amphibians, which help keep water supplies free from algae.

Pour François Ramade, professeur émérite d'écologie à l'université de Paris-Sud, les insecticides modernes, notamment les néonicotinoïdes, sont responsables d'une véritable "catastrophe écologique". Et, selon lui, "la réponse des pouvoirs publics des pays développés et des institutions multilatérales est absente ou dérisoire". Les personnes de plus de 40 ans se souviennent des pare-brise, phares et calandres de voiture constellés de cadavres d'insectes. La propreté des voitures actuelles est le signe d'une disparition massive d'insectes qui doit nous alarmer. L'agriculture moderne a permis, par l'usage massif d'« intrants », une augmentation considérable de la productivité des cultures. Elle atteint depuis quelques décennies des limites dues à l'impact environnemental de ses pratiques. En effet, l'accroissement de productivité qu'elle a permis n'est pas dû à une révolution biologique dans le contrôle de la photosynthèse, mais à un recours sans cesse accru aux engrais chimiques et aux pesticides, dont les conséquences écologiques néfastes sont connues.

Neonicotinoid insecticides exhibit very high toxicity to a wide range of invertebrates, particularly insects, and field-realistic exposure is likely to result in both lethal and a broad range of important sublethal impacts. The compounds are highly persistent in soils, tend to accumulate in soils and sediments, have a high runoff and leaching potential to surface and groundwater and have been detected frequently in the global environment. For imidacloprid, including its neurotoxic metabolites, lethal toxicity can increase up to 100,000 times compared to acute toxicity when the exposure is extended in time (Suchail et al. 2001). Recent studies have shown that chronic toxicity of neonicotinoids can more adequately be expressed by time to 50 % mortality instead of by the 10 day LD50 (Sánchez-Bayo 2009; Maus and Nauen 2010; Tennekes 2010; Tennekes 2011; Tennekes and Sánchez-Bayo 2012; Mason et al. 2013; Rondeau et al. 2014). There is a linear relation between the logarithm of the daily dose and the logarithm of the time to 50 % mortality (Tennekes 2010, 2011; Tennekes and Sánchez-Bayo 2012; Tennekes and Sánchez-Bayo 2013; Rondeau et al. 2014).

Niederländische Forscher um Caspar Hallmann von der Radboud-Universität in Nijmegen und des SOVON-Zentrums für Ornithologie haben herausgefunden, dass der Rückgang vieler Vogelarten mit dem Einsatz von Schädlingsbekämpfungsmitteln zusammenhängt. Das im Rahmen der Studie untersuchte Pestizid trägt den Namen Imidacloprid und gehört zur Gruppe der Neonicotinoide. Es ist eines der weltweit am häufigsten in der Landwirtschaft verwendeten Insektizide. Neonicotinoide wirken als Kontakt- oder Fraßgifte. Sie schädigen das Nervensystem der Insekten, die mit dieser Substanz behandelte Pflanzen fressen oder diese auch nur berühren.

New research has identified the world’s most widely used insecticides as the key factor in the recent reduction in numbers of farmland birds. The finding represents a significant escalation of the known dangers of the insecticides and follows an assessment in June that warned that pervasive pollution by these nerve agents was now threatening all food production. The neonicotinoid insecticides are believed to seriously harm bees and other pollinating insects, and a two-year EU suspension on three of the poisons began at the end of 2013. Peer-reviewed research, published in the leading journal Nature this Wednesday, has revealed data from the Netherlands showing that bird populations fell most sharply in those areas where neonicotinoid pollution was highest. Starlings, tree sparrows and swallows were among the most affected. At least 95% of neonicotinoids applied to crops ends up in the wider environment, killing the insects the birds rely on for food, particularly when raising chicks.

Imidacloprid, one of the most commonly used insecticides, is highly toxic to bees and other beneficial insects. The regulatory challenge to determine safe levels of residual pesticides can benefit from information about the time-dependent toxicity of this chemical. Using published toxicity data for imidacloprid for several insect species, we construct time-to-lethal-effect toxicity plots and fit temporal power-law scaling curves to the data. The level of toxic exposure that results in 50% mortality after time t is found to scale as t1.7 for ants, from t1.6 to t5 for honeybees, and from t1.46 to t2.9 for termites. We present a simple toxicological model that can explain t2 scaling. Extrapolating the toxicity scaling for honeybees to the lifespan of winter bees suggests that imidacloprid in honey at 0.25 μg/kg would be lethal to a large proportion of bees nearing the end of their life.