Effects of sublethal doses of thiacloprid and its formulation Calypso ® on the learning and memory performance of honey bees

Learning and memory play a central role in the behavior and communication of foraging bees. We have previously shown that chronic uptake of the neonicotinoid thiacloprid affects the behavior of honey bees in the field. Foraging behavior, homing success, navigation performance and social communicatio...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Journal of experimental biology Vol. 220; no. Pt 20; pp. 3695 - 3705
Main Authors:	Tison, Léa, Holtz, Sophie, Adeoye, Amy, Kalkan, Önder, Irmisch, Nina S, Lehmann, Nadja, Menzel, Randolf
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	England The Company of Biologists Ltd 15-10-2017
Subjects:	Animals Apis mellifera Bees Bees - drug effects Cognitive ability Conditioning, Classical - drug effects Consolidation Dose-Response Relationship, Drug Forage Foraging behavior Homing Homing behavior Honey Insecticides - toxicity Learning Learning - drug effects Memory Memory - drug effects Navigation Navigation behavior Neonicotinoids - toxicity Proboscis Smell - drug effects Thiacloprid Thiazines - toxicity Apis mellifera Neonicotinoid Proboscis extension conditioning Pesticide PER
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Summary:	Learning and memory play a central role in the behavior and communication of foraging bees. We have previously shown that chronic uptake of the neonicotinoid thiacloprid affects the behavior of honey bees in the field. Foraging behavior, homing success, navigation performance and social communication were impaired. Thiacloprid collected at a feeding site at low doses accumulates in foragers over time. Here, we applied a laboratory standard procedure (the proboscis-extension response conditioning) in order to assess which processes, acquisition, memory consolidation and/or memory retrieval were compromised after bees were fed either with thiacloprid or the formulation of thiacloprid named Calypso at different sublethal doses. Extinction and generalization tests allowed us to investigate whether bees respond to a learned stimulus, and how selectively. We showed that thiacloprid, as active substance and as formulation, poses a substantial risk to honey bees by disrupting learning and memory functions. These data support and specify the data collected in the field.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0022-0949 1477-9145
DOI:	10.1242/jeb.154518