Stingless bees in urban areas: low body size and high frequency of diploid males at mating congregations of Nannotrigona perilampoides (Hymenoptera: Meliponini) in Mérida, Yucatán, México
Abstract:In temperate regions of the world dominated by intensive agriculture, cities harbor a rich diversity and abundance of bee species, often exceeding those of the rural environment. In less industrialized tropical countries, in contrast, stressful conditions may exist in cities for bees with perennial colonies such as stingless bees because of the lack of resources such as amenity green spaces (flowers) and appropriate nesting sites. Yet, we currently lack studies on the ecology of bees in tropical urban areas to… Show more
“…Furthermore, this pesticide was found to be more toxic to the native stingless bee Nannnotrigona perilampoides compared to other pesticides, and N. perilampoides was more sensitive to imidacloprid than other stingless bee species [33]. An additional importance of N. perilampoides is that it is a widespread stingless bee species in Mexico, found both in rural and in urban environments [23,24]; furthermore, it has the potential to be used in commercial pollination [42]. It therefore represents an important model stingless bee species, whose sensitivity to imidacloprid deserves closer scrutiny.…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 95%
“…However, agrochemical treatment is a frequent practice in the management of pest arthropods in many crops of these plant families [22]. In addition, urban areas can be home to several species of stingless bee [23] and, as a result, exposure to pesticides for the control of insect vectors of human pathogens can be frequent in these environments [24].…”
Stingless bees are ecologically and economically important species in the tropics and subtropics, but there has been little research on the characterization of detoxification systems and immune responses within them. This is critical for understanding their responses to, and defenses against, a variety of environmental stresses, including agrochemicals. Therefore, we studied the detoxification and immune responses of a stingless bee, Nanotrigona perilampoides, which is an important stingless bee that is widely distributed throughout Mexico, including urban areas, and has the potential to be used in commercial pollination. We first determined the LC50 of the neonicotinoid insecticide imidacloprid for foragers of N. perilampoides, then chronically exposed bees for 10 days to imidacloprid at two field-realistic concentrations, LC10 (0.45 ng/µL) or LC20 (0.74 ng/µL), which are respectively 2.7 and 1.3-fold lower than the residues of imidacloprid that have been found in honey (6 ng/g) in central Mexico. We found that exposing N. perilampoides stingless bees to imidacloprid at these concentrations markedly reduced bee survival and food consumption, revealing the great sensitivity of this stingless bee to the insecticide in comparison to honey bees. The expression of detoxification (GSTD1) and immune-related genes (abaecin, defensin1, and hymenopteacin) in N. perilampoides also changed over time in response to imidacloprid. Gene expression was always lower in bees after 8 days of exposure to imidacloprid (LC10 or LC20) than it was after 4 days. Our results demonstrate that N. perilampoides stingless bees are extremely sensitive to imidacloprid, even at low concentrations, and provide greater insight into how stingless bees respond to pesticide toxicity. This is the first study of its kind to look at detoxification systems and immune responses in Mexican stingless bees, an ecologically and economically important taxon.
“…Furthermore, this pesticide was found to be more toxic to the native stingless bee Nannnotrigona perilampoides compared to other pesticides, and N. perilampoides was more sensitive to imidacloprid than other stingless bee species [33]. An additional importance of N. perilampoides is that it is a widespread stingless bee species in Mexico, found both in rural and in urban environments [23,24]; furthermore, it has the potential to be used in commercial pollination [42]. It therefore represents an important model stingless bee species, whose sensitivity to imidacloprid deserves closer scrutiny.…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 95%
“…However, agrochemical treatment is a frequent practice in the management of pest arthropods in many crops of these plant families [22]. In addition, urban areas can be home to several species of stingless bee [23] and, as a result, exposure to pesticides for the control of insect vectors of human pathogens can be frequent in these environments [24].…”
Stingless bees are ecologically and economically important species in the tropics and subtropics, but there has been little research on the characterization of detoxification systems and immune responses within them. This is critical for understanding their responses to, and defenses against, a variety of environmental stresses, including agrochemicals. Therefore, we studied the detoxification and immune responses of a stingless bee, Nanotrigona perilampoides, which is an important stingless bee that is widely distributed throughout Mexico, including urban areas, and has the potential to be used in commercial pollination. We first determined the LC50 of the neonicotinoid insecticide imidacloprid for foragers of N. perilampoides, then chronically exposed bees for 10 days to imidacloprid at two field-realistic concentrations, LC10 (0.45 ng/µL) or LC20 (0.74 ng/µL), which are respectively 2.7 and 1.3-fold lower than the residues of imidacloprid that have been found in honey (6 ng/g) in central Mexico. We found that exposing N. perilampoides stingless bees to imidacloprid at these concentrations markedly reduced bee survival and food consumption, revealing the great sensitivity of this stingless bee to the insecticide in comparison to honey bees. The expression of detoxification (GSTD1) and immune-related genes (abaecin, defensin1, and hymenopteacin) in N. perilampoides also changed over time in response to imidacloprid. Gene expression was always lower in bees after 8 days of exposure to imidacloprid (LC10 or LC20) than it was after 4 days. Our results demonstrate that N. perilampoides stingless bees are extremely sensitive to imidacloprid, even at low concentrations, and provide greater insight into how stingless bees respond to pesticide toxicity. This is the first study of its kind to look at detoxification systems and immune responses in Mexican stingless bees, an ecologically and economically important taxon.
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