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O More than 70 percent of pollen and honey samples collected from
foragingbees in Massachusetts contained neonicotinoids, a type of
insecticide that has been linked to colony collapse disorder, researchers are
reporting. The disorder causes adult bees to abandon their hives in winter.
In the new study, published in The Journal of Environmental Chemistry,
researchers analyzed 219 pollen samples and 53 honey samples from 62
hives in 10 counties in Massachusetts. Honeybee colonies have experienced
significant losses over the last decade, and the effects can be far-reaching:
Bees are the prime pollinators of one-third of all crops worldwide.
(itz article.. U can add it in intro . I have other details,, )
****Bees live up to their busy reputation. These insects are responsible for
pollinating $15 billion worth of crops in the United States. But bee populations have
been dwindling for years, and scientists are still trying to figure out why.
One of the major suspects in bee declines is neonicotinoids--a widely used class of
insecticide. Neonicotinoids have been shown to be harmful to bees (particularly
honeybees) in the lab, but proving that the pesticide is harmful in the field has been
difficult. Now, two studies published this week show that these pesticides do impact
bees' behavior, and maybe even their lives.
In the first study, published in Nature, researchers found that bees that were
exposed to neonicotinoids didn't pollinate as many apple trees, and the apple trees
that they did visit produced apples with fewer seeds (a sure sign of decreased
pollination).
The second study, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, looked at
bee mortality and behavior near fields treated with thiamethoxam, a type of
neonicotinoid. They found that more bees died when exposed to those (fairly
typical) doses of thiamethoxam, but they also noticed that the colonies focused on
making more workers to replace their fallen comrades. This meant that the colonies
didn't produce as many drones, male bees that allow the colonies to reproduce.
They also produce drones later. If bee colonies are forced to put their resources
towards more workers in order to keep their honey production high, that means that
drones of affected colonies won't be ready to reproduce until later in the season,
long after queens from neighboring (unaffected) colonies have been taken by
healthier drones. This could have an impact on genetic diversity in already
struggling bee populations.

So, bees exposed to neonicotinoids are not only dying upon exposure to these
pesticides, but the surviving bees are hampered reproductively, and aren't doing as
much for farmers. Future studies will have to be done to determine whether those
negatives outweigh the benefits of using pesticides. Farmers use pesticides like
neonicotinoids to keep other, harmful insects at bay, and eliminating neocotinoids
would mean that they would have to find alternatives--such as, perhaps, using bees
to deliver organic pesticides.
The use of neonicotinoids has been banned in most of Europe for the past two
years, and the United States just prevented the approval of a new neonicotinoid.
The Environmental Protection Agency is currently reviewing the safety of other
neonicotinoids.
ABSTRACT :
****We assessed the state of knowledge regarding the effects of large-scale
pollution with neonicotinoid insecticides and fipronil on non-target invertebrate
species of terrestrial, freshwater and marine environments. A large section of the
assessment is dedicated to the state of knowledge on sublethal effects on
honeybees (Apis mellifera) because this important pollinator is the most studied
non-target invertebrate species. Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), Lumbricidae
(earthworms), Apoidae sensu lato (bumblebees, solitary bees) and the section
other invertebrates review available studies on the other terrestrial species. The
sections on freshwater and marine species are rather short as little is known so far
about the impact of neonicotinoid insecticides and fipronil on the diverse
invertebrate fauna of these widely exposed habitats. For terrestrial and aquatic
invertebrate species, the known effects of neonicotinoid pesticides and fipronil are
described ranging from organismal toxicology and behavioural effects to populationlevel effects. For earthworms, freshwater and marine species, the relation of
findings to regulatory risk assessment is described. Neonicotinoid insecticides
exhibit very high toxicity to a wide range of invertebrates, particularly insects, and
field-realistic exposure is likely to result in both lethal and a broad range of
important sublethal impacts. There is a major knowledge gap regarding impacts on
the grand majority of invertebrates, many of which perform essential roles enabling
healthy ecosystem functioning. The data on the few non-target species on which
field tests have been performed are limited by major flaws in the outdated test
protocols. Despite large knowledge gaps and uncertainties, enough knowledge
exists to conclude that existing levels of pollution with neonicotinoids and fipronil
resulting from presently authorized uses frequently exceed the lowest observed
adverse effect concentrations and are thus likely to have large-scale and wide
ranging negative biological and ecological impacts on a wide range of non-target
invertebrates in terrestrial, aquatic, marine and benthic habitats.

Keywords
Pesticides Neonicotinoids Fipronil Non-target species Invertebrates Honeybee
Earthworms Butterflies Freshwater habitat Marine habitat

**Introduction
Neonicotinoids and fipronil are relatively new, widely used, systemic compounds
designed as plant protection products to kill insects which cause damage to crops.
They are also used in veterinary medicine to control parasites such as fleas, ticks
and worms on domesticated animals and as pesticides to control non-agricultural
pests. Other papers in this special issue have shown that neonicotinoid insecticides
and fipronil are presently used on a very large scale (e.g. Simon-Delso et al. 2014,
this issue), are highly persistent in soils, tend to accumulate in soils and sediments,
have a high runoff and leaching potential to surface and groundwater and have
been detected frequently in the global environment (Bonmatin et al. 2014, this
issue). Effects of exposure to the large-scale pollution with these neurotoxic
chemicals on non-target insects and possibly other invertebrates can be expected
as identified for other insecticides. However, for the majority of insect and other
invertebrate species that are likely to be exposed to neonicotinoids and fipronil in
agricultural or (semi)natural ecosystems, no or very little information is available
about the impact of these pesticides on their biology. Here we assess the present
state of knowledge on effects on terrestrial and aquatic invertebrates.

Terrestrial invertebrates
Honeybees
Many studies have focused on investigating the effects of neonicotinoids and fipronil
on honeybees (Apis mellifera). Apart from its cultural and honey production value,
the honeybee is the most tractable pollinator species and critical for the production
of many of the worlds most important crops (Klein et al. 2007; Breeze et al. 2011).
Losses of honeybees are generally measured as winter loss on national to regional
level, and indications are that honeybee populations undergo high losses in many
parts of the world (Oldroyd 2007; Stokstad 2007; van Engelsdorp and Meixner 2010;
Van der Zee et al. 2012a, b).
No single cause for high losses has been identified, and high losses are associated
with multiple factors including pesticides, habitat loss, pathogens, parasites and
environmental factors (Decourtye et al. 2010; Mani et al. 2010; Neumann and
Carreck 2010; Kluser et al. 2011). Apart from direct biotic and abiotic factors,
changes in honeybee populations also depend on the economic value of honeybees
and thus on human effort (Aizen and Harder 2009; Mani et al. 2010). Neonicotinoids
are among the most used insecticides worldwide and are thus prime targets for
investigating possible relationships with high honey bees.

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