SynthesisEcotoxicology (London, England)2011
A meta-analysis of experiments testing the effects of a neonicotinoid insecticide (imidacloprid) on honey bees.
Synthesis in Ecotoxicology (London, England), 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 101 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
101 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 389 citations in OpenAlex.
- Comparability of comparative toxicity: insect sensitivity to imidacloprid reveals huge variations across species but also within species.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2024Pooled it
- Holistic evaluation of long-term earthworm field studies with a fungicide.Integrated environmental assessment and management · 2022Pooled it
- Fungicides, herbicides and bees: A systematic review of existing research and methods.PloS one · 2019Pooled it
- Neonicotinoid Insecticides and Their Impacts on Bees: A Systematic Review of Research Approaches and Identification of Knowledge Gaps.PloS one · 2015Pooled it
- A meta-analysis comparing the sensitivity of bees to pesticides.Ecotoxicology (London, England) · 2014Pooled it
- Susceptibility to the Neonicotinoid Pesticide Imidacloprid Is Linked to Life History Regulation in Honey Bees (Apis mellifera L.).Molecular ecology · 2026Article
- Insecticide exposure alters feeding and impairs ovary development in a solitary bee.Ecotoxicology (London, England) · 2026Article
- Young honey bees Apis mellifera learn to avoid pollen contaminated with glyphosate or imidacloprid.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Understanding Stress Response in Superorganisms: A Multi-Level and Cybernetic Approach.Ecology and evolution · 2025Review
- The Sublethal Effects of Neonicotinoids on Honeybees.Biology · 2025Review
- Reduced Honeybee Pollen Foraging under Neonicotinoid Exposure: Exploring Reproducible Individual and Colony Level Effects in the Field Using AI and Simulation.Environmental science & technology · 2025Article
- Binary Mixture of Neonicotinoid-Pyrethroid Insecticide: Impact on Survival, Cognitive Learning, and Memory inBiology · 2025Article
- Exposure of Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae) colonies to imidacloprid impairs larval development, promotes oxidative stress in pupae, and induces changes in the midgut of adult bees.Biological research · 2025Article
- Article
- Airborne metofluthrin, a pyrethroid repellent, does not impact foraging honey bees.Journal of insect science (Online) · 2024Article
- A volatilized pyrethroid insecticide from a mosquito repelling device does not impact honey bee foraging and recruitment.Journal of insect science (Online) · 2023Article
- Quantifying inherent predictability and spatial synchrony in the aphid vector Myzus persicae: field-scale patterns of abundance and regional forecasting error in the UK.Pest management science · 2023Article
- Biochemical responses, feeding and survival in the solitary bee Osmia bicornis following exposure to an insecticide and a fungicide alone and in combination.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2023Article
- Field-realistic concentrations of a neonicotinoid insecticide influence socially regulated brood development in a bumblebee.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2022Article
- Survival Rate of the Neotropical Stingless BeesInsects · 2022Article
41 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Honey bees provide important pollination services to crops and wild plants. The agricultural use of systemic insecticides, such as neonicotinoids, may harm bees through their presence in pollen and nectar, which bees consume. Many studies have tested the effects on honey bees of imidacloprid, a neonicotinoid, but a clear picture of the risk it poses to bees has not previously emerged, because investigations are methodologically varied and inconsistent in outcome. In a meta-analysis of fourteen published studies of the effects of imidacloprid on honey bees under laboratory and semi-field conditions that comprised measurements on 7073 adult individuals and 36 colonies, fitted dose-response relationships estimate that trace dietary imidacloprid at field-realistic levels in nectar will have no lethal effects, but will reduce expected performance in honey bees by between 6 and 20%. Statistical power analysis showed that published field trials that have reported no effects on honey bees from neonicotinoids were incapable of detecting these predicted sublethal effects with conventionally accepted levels of certainty. These findings raise renewed concern about the impact on honey bees of dietary imidacloprid, but because questions remain over the environmental relevance of predominantly laboratory-based results, I identify targets for research and provide procedural recommendations for future studies.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.