Effect of Sublethal Concentrations of Some Pesticides on Physiological Characters of Honeybee Workers Under Laboratory Conditions

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of plant protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Assiut University (71526), Assiut, Egypt.

2 The Central Agricultural Pesticides Laboratory, Dokki, Giza, Egypt.

Abstract

Several pesticides may be directly responsible for reducing the performance and losses of honeybee colonies. The action of feeding a nursing honeybee worker sugar solution with a sublethal concentration of seven pesticide groups was evaluated under laboratory conditions. Various physiological characteristics of nursing honeybees including food consumption, development of food glands, body water content, and food reserves were considered as indications for the functional status of nursing honeybee workers. Food consumption rate was significantly reduced in all treatments except two treatments, chlorpyrifos, and thiophanate-methyl. Also, the development of hypopharyngeal glands was significantly reduced in all treatments the reduction ranged between   31 to 55.62%. At the end of the nursing period, the state of metabolism as a food reservoir was determined. A maximum decrease in adult water content was recorded under the effect of lambada-cyhalothrine pesticide treatment without any significant difference in all treatments. Otherwise, the protein content of adults significantly decreased in all treatments except with lambada-cyhalothrine pesticide treatment. Fat content significantly increased in all treatments. The present data reflects the negative effects of sublethal concentration after dietary oral application of certain pesticide groups during the nursing period of the honeybee

Keywords

Egyptian Academic Journal of Biological Sciences, F. Toxicology & Pest Control
Volume 15, Issue 2
December 2023
Pages 1-13

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