Bombus terrestris foraging on oil seed rape.DARA STANLEYSeveral bumblebee species are declining in both the United States and Europe, and earlier this year, the rusty patched bumblebee (Bombus affinis) was declared endangered by the US Fish & Wildlife Service. Studies suggest that a number of factors, including climate change and pesticides, are to blame.
In a new study, published today (May 3) in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, scientists report that thiamethoxam, a neonicotinoid insecticide previously connected to population declines among honey bees and bumblebees, impairs the ability of queens bees to breed.
Researchers at the Royal Holloway University of London and the University of Guelph in Canada studied 506 queens across four bumblebee species (Bombus terrestris, B. lucorum, B. pratorum, and B. pascuorum). “Almost nothing’s been done on queen bees and we wanted to understand what the impacts of neonics might be on queen behaviour and queen reproduction,” study coauthor Nigel Raine told the Globe and Mail.
Their analysis revealed that thiamethoxam exposure impaired ovary development, and, in two of the species, resulted in less food intake. ...
