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Toxicity of Imidacloprid to the Stingless Bee Scaptotrigona postica Latreille, 1807 (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

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Abstract

The stingless bee Scaptotrigona postica is an important pollinator of native and cultivated plants in Brazil. Among the factors affecting the survival of these insects is the indiscriminate use of insecticides, including the neonicotinoid imidacloprid. This work determined the toxicity of imidacloprid as the topical median lethal dose (LD50) and the oral median lethal concentration (LC50) as tools for assessing the effects of this insecticide. The 24 and 48 h LD50 values were 25.2 and 24.5 ng of active ingredient (a.i.)/bee, respectively. The 24 and 48 h LC50 values were 42.5 and 14.3 ng a.i./µL of diet, respectively. Ours results show the hazard of imidacloprid and the vulnerability of stingless bees to it, providing relevant toxicological data that can used in mitigation programs to ensure the conservation of this species.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—CAPES that provided the scholarship for the Hellen Maria Soares and the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo—FAPESP (2012/50197-2).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Biologia, UNESP-Centro de Estudos de Insetos Sociais, Universidade Estadual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho”, Avenida 24-A, n.1515, Bela Vista, Rio Claro, SP, 13506-900, Brazil

    Hellen Maria Soares, Cynthia Renata Oliveira Jacob & Osmar Malaspina

  2. Instituto de Ciências Agrárias, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Avenida Amazonas s/n, Bloco 2E, Umuarama, Uberlândia, MG, 38.400-902, Brazil

    Stephan Malfitano Carvalho

  3. Departamento de Ciências da Natureza, Matemática e Educação, Centro de Ciências Agrárias, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, Rodovia Anhanguera, Km 174, Araras, SP, 13600-970, Brazil

    Roberta Cornélio Ferreira Nocelli

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  1. Hellen Maria Soares
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  2. Cynthia Renata Oliveira Jacob
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  3. Stephan Malfitano Carvalho
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  4. Roberta Cornélio Ferreira Nocelli
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  5. Osmar Malaspina
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Correspondence to Hellen Maria Soares.

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Soares, H.M., Jacob, C.R.O., Carvalho, S.M. et al. Toxicity of Imidacloprid to the Stingless Bee Scaptotrigona postica Latreille, 1807 (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 94, 675–680 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-015-1488-6

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