Seed coating with a neonicotinoid insecticide negatively affects wild bees

[G_j]

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature14420.html

Nature (2015) doi:10.1038/nature14420
Received 11 July 2014 Accepted 26 March 2015 Published online 22 April 20

Understanding the effects of neonicotinoid insecticides on bees is vital because of reported declines in bee diversity and distribution1, 2, 3 and the crucial role bees have as pollinators in ecosystems and agriculture4. Neonicotinoids are suspected to pose an unacceptable risk to bees, partly because of their systemic uptake in plants5, and the European Union has therefore introduced a moratorium on three neonicotinoids as seed coatings in flowering crops that attract bees6. The moratorium has been criticized for being based on weak evidence7, particularly because effects have mostly been measured on bees that have been artificially fed neonicotinoids8, 9, 10, 11. Thus, the key question is how neonicotinoids influence bees, and wild bees in particular, in real-world agricultural landscapes11, 12, 13. Here we show that a commonly used insecticide seed coating in a flowering crop can have serious consequences for wild bees. In a study with replicated and matched landscapes, we found that seed coating with Elado, an insecticide containing a combination of the neonicotinoid clothianidin and the non-systemic pyrethroid β-cyfluthrin, applied to oilseed rape seeds, reduced wild bee density, solitary bee nesting, and bumblebee colony growth and reproduction under field conditions. Hence, such insecticidal use can pose a substantial risk to wild bees in agricultural landscapes, and the contribution of pesticides to the global decline of wild bees1, 2, 3 may have been underestimated. The lack of a significant response in honeybee colonies suggests that reported pesticide effects on honeybees cannot always be extrapolated to wild bees.

[G_j]

1. --

[Luminous Animal]

2. K&R