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Measurements of Chlorpyrifos Levels in Forager Bees and Comparison with Levels that Disrupt Honey Bee Odor-Mediated Learning Under Laboratory Conditions

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Abstract

Chlorpyrifos is an organophosphate pesticide used around the world to protect food crops against insects and mites. Despite guidelines for chlorpyrifos usage, including precautions to protect beneficial insects, such as honeybees from spray drift, this pesticide has been detected in bees in various countries, indicating that exposure still occurs. Here, we examined chlorpyrifos levels in bees collected from 17 locations in Otago, New Zealand, and compared doses of this pesticide that cause sub-lethal effects on learning performance under laboratory conditions with amounts of chlorpyrifos detected in the bees in the field. The pesticide was detected at 17 % of the sites sampled and in 12 % of the colonies examined. Amounts detected ranged from 35 to 286 pg.bee−1, far below the LD50 of ~100 ng.bee−1. We detected no adverse effect of chlorpyrifos on aversive learning, but the formation and retrieval of appetitive olfactory memories was severely affected. Chlorpyrifos fed to bees in amounts several orders of magnitude lower than the LD50, and also lower than levels detected in bees, was found to slow appetitive learning and reduce the specificity of memory recall. As learning and memory play a central role in the behavioral ecology and communication of foraging bees, chlorpyrifos, even in sublethal doses, may threaten the success and survival of this important insect pollinator.

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Acknowledgments

Marsden Fund Grant UOO1207

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Otago, Department of Zoology, 340 Great King Street PO Box 56, Dunedin, 9054, New Zealand

    Elodie Urlacher, Coline Monchanin, Coraline Rivière, Sue Michelsen-Heath & Alison R. Mercer

  2. Laboratoire Ecologie et Biologie des intéractions, UMR CNRS 7267, Team Ecologie Evolution Symbiose, University of Poitiers, 6, rue Michel Brunet, TSA 51106, F-86073, Poitiers Cedex 9, France

    Freddie-Jeanne Richard

  3. Department of Chemistry, University of Otago, Union Street West, PO Box 56, Dunedin, 9054, New Zealand

    Christie Lombardi & Kimberly J. Hageman

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  1. Elodie Urlacher
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Correspondence to Elodie Urlacher.

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Urlacher, E., Monchanin, C., Rivière, C. et al. Measurements of Chlorpyrifos Levels in Forager Bees and Comparison with Levels that Disrupt Honey Bee Odor-Mediated Learning Under Laboratory Conditions. J Chem Ecol 42, 127–138 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-016-0672-4

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