Results from a new study suggest that bees might be exposed to pesticides in more ways than we thought, and it could impact their development significantly.
The study, published in Nature’s Scientific Reports, looks at the non-target effects of pesticides on ground-nesting bees, a group that actually makes up the majority of bee species. Non-target effects refer to the effects on organisms other than the ones intended. Much of the research currently available on non-target effects of pesticides has been limited to honey and bumble bees and their exposure to pesticides when collecting pollen and nectar.
While these previous studies have shown that pesticide consumption by honey and bumble bees can have important ecological consequences, this new study is one of the first of its kind to determine the effects of contact with pesticides, such as those that occur in soils, that other bee species might encounter.
Read more at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Photo: Results from the study showed that females and males responded differently to the pesticides, which could impact larger population dynamics. CREDIT: Jesse Wallace