The neonicotinoid clothianidin impairs memory processing in honey bees.
Neonicotinoids act as agonists on the nicotinic Acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) in insect brains, an essential molecular component of central brain structures involved in learning and memory formation. Sublethal doses might, therefore, impair neural processes necessary for adaptive experience dependent behaviour and thus reduce the fitness of pollinating insects on the individual and community level. First, the question was addressed whether clothianidin has an aversive taste for honey bees and concluded with both a laboratory and a semi-field experiment that bees are unable to distinguish between control and contaminated sucrose solutions. In the laboratory, proboscis extension response conditioning was performed with forager bees exposed to different concentrations of clothianidin (0.1, 0.3 and 0.8 ng/bee) before learning, after learning during memory consolidation, and just before memory retention. These tests at different timings allowed uncovering an impairment of the consolidation and retrieval of memory due to the exposure to clothianidin. It was concluded that an acute exposure to clothianidin has an adverse effect on memory processing in honey bees.
['Tison|Léa|L|', 'Rößner|Alexander|A|', 'Gerschewski|Susan|S|', 'Menzel|Randolf|R|']
D000818:Animals D001516:Bees D004781:Environmental Exposure D005247:Feeding Behavior D006146:Guanidines D007306:Insecticides D007858:Learning D008568:Memory D000073943:Neonicotinoids D016019:Survival Analysis D055697:Taste Perception D013844:Thiazoles
Memory Learning Apis mellifera PER conditioning Pesticide