Neonicotinoid pesticides hinder wild queen bumblebee’s reproductive success, according to a new University of Guelph study.
Neonicotinoid pesticides hinder wild queen bumblebee’s reproductive success, according to a new University of Guelph study.
The study is the first to link exposure to thiamethoxam — one of the most commonly used neonicotinoid pesticides — to fewer fully developed eggs in queens from four wild bumblebee species that forage in farmland.
“Queen bees will only lay eggs when the eggs are fully developed,” said Prof. Nigel Raine, holder of the Rebanks Family Chair in Pollinator Conservation.
If queens need to use energy to clear pesticides from their system instead of investing in eggs, then fewer fully developed eggs will result, he said.
Read more at University of Guelph
Image: This is a Bombus terrestris foraging on oil seed rape. (Credit: Dara Stanley)
