SynthesisEcotoxicology (London, England)2014
A meta-analysis comparing the sensitivity of bees to pesticides.
Synthesis in Ecotoxicology (London, England), 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 108 papers, 4 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
108 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 410 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
- Pooled 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
- Field-dose fenitrothion impairs gut function and survival in the bumble bees (Bombus terrestris).Pest management science · 2026Article
- Toxicity and Morphological Alterations Caused By Azadirachtin in the Stingless Bee Nannotrigona testaceicornis Lepeletier, 1836 (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini.Neotropical entomology · 2026Article
- Carbohydrate limitation, but not exposure to the insecticide flupyradifurone, impairs wild bumblebee nest initiation.Environmental entomology · 2026Article
- Acute Exposure to Traces of Chlorantraniliprole Does Not Alter Antipredator Behaviour in Wild Crickets.Ecology and evolution · 2026Article
- Sweet products, subtle residues: neonicotinoid contaminations in commercial honey from Thailand.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2026Article
- Biases and blind spots in the global research agenda on metallic pollution and bees.Die Naturwissenschaften · 2026Article
- Sulfoxaflor reduces food intake and learning efficiency of solitary Osmia bicornis bees.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Beyond Standard Protocols: Advanced Patented Technology for Comprehensive Toxicity Assessments in Neotropical Bees.Toxics · 2026Article
- Pesticides and habitat loss additively reduce wild bees in crop fields.Nature ecology & evolution · 2026Article
- Urbanization and landscape effects on taxonomic and functional wild bee diversity in small towns and rural areas.Frontiers in zoology · 2025Article
- Insecticide susceptibility of Japanese mason bees (Journal of pesticide science · 2025Article
- Article
- The Sublethal Effects of Neonicotinoids on Honeybees.Biology · 2025Review
- A phototaxis assay to measure sublethal effects of pesticides on bees.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Article
- A risk based pollination network for non-Apis bees demonstrates the importance of understory plant contamination.Scientific reports · 2025Article
48 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
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The honey bee Apis mellifera, the test species used in the current environmental risk assessment procedure, is generally considered as extremely sensitive to pesticides when compared to other bee species, although a quantitative approach for comparing the difference in sensitivity among bees has not yet been reported. A systematic review of the relevant literature on the topic followed by a meta-analysis has been performed. Both the contact and oral acute LD50 and the chronic LC50 reported in laboratory studies for as many substances as possible have been extracted from the papers in order to compare the sensitivity to pesticides of honey bees and other bee species (Apiformes). The sensitivity ratio R between the endpoint for the species a (A. mellifera) and the species s (bees other than A. mellifera) was calculated for a total of 150 case studies including 19 bee species. A ratio higher than 1 indicated that the species s was more sensitive to pesticides than honey bees. The meta-analysis showed a high variability of sensitivity among bee species (R from 0.001 to 2085.7), however, in approximately 95 % of the cases the sensitivity ratio was below 10. The effect of pesticides in domestic and wild bees is dependent on the intrinsic sensitivity of single bee species as well as their specific life cycle, nesting activity and foraging behaviour. Current data indicates a need for more comparative information between honey bees and non-Apis bees as well as separate pesticide risk assessment procedures for non-Apis bees.
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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.