ArticleThe Journal of applied ecology2018
Quantifying the impact of pesticides on learning and memory in bees.
Article in The Journal of applied ecology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 67 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
67 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 191 citations in OpenAlex.
- Fungicides, herbicides and bees: A systematic review of existing research and methods.PloS one · 2019Pooled it
- 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
- Sulfoxaflor reduces food intake and learning efficiency of solitary Osmia bicornis bees.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Unraveling pesticide impacts on pollinators: a global challenge for sustainable crop protection.Die Naturwissenschaften · 2026Review
- The diversity of lepidopteran spatial orientation strategies - neuronal mechanisms and emerging challenges in a changing world.Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology · 2026Review
- Article
- Assessing spinosad effect on honey bee olfactory conditioning using a microcontroller-based device.Frontiers in insect science · 2026Article
- Neurotranscriptomic profiling of deformed wing virus-infected honey bee foragers (Apis mellifera) with different cognitive abilities.Biology open · 2025Article
- Impact of clothianidin exposure on the growth, metabolism, and neurological function of Penaeus vannamei.Stress biology · 2025Article
- Sulfoxaflor Impairs Bumblebee Memory Across Moderate and Extreme Temperatures.Ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- The Sublethal Effects of Neonicotinoids on Honeybees.Biology · 2025Review
- The impact of landscape complexity and composition on honey bee visual learning.The Journal of experimental biology · 2025Article
- 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
- Pesticides have negative effects on non-target organisms.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Impact of synthetic insecticides on the life table parameters of Trichogramma chilonis under laboratory conditions.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Learning performance and GABAergic pathway link to deformed wing virus in the mushroom bodies of naturally infected honey bees.The Journal of experimental biology · 2024Article
- Current Insights into Sublethal Effects of Pesticides on Insects.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- A novel insecticide impairs bumblebee memory and sucrose responsiveness across high and low nutrition.Royal Society open science · 2024Article
- Synergistic negative effects between a fungicide and high temperatures on homing behaviours in honeybees.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2024Article
7 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
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Most insecticides are insect neurotoxins. Evidence is emerging that sublethal doses of these neurotoxins are affecting the learning and memory of both wild and managed bee colonies, exacerbating the negative effects of pesticide exposure and reducing individual foraging efficiency.Variation in methodologies and interpretation of results across studies has precluded the quantitative evaluation of these impacts that is needed to make recommendations for policy change. It is not clear whether robust effects occur under acute exposure regimes (often argued to be more field-realistic than the chronic regimes upon which many studies are based), for field-realistic dosages, and for pesticides other than neonicotinoids.Here we use meta-analysis to examine the impact of pesticides on bee performance in proboscis extension-based learning assays, the paradigm most commonly used to assess learning and memory in bees. We draw together 104 (learning) and 167 (memory) estimated effect sizes across a diverse range of studies.We detected significant negative effects of pesticides on learning and memory (i) at field realistic dosages, (ii) under both chronic and acute application, and (iii) for both neonicotinoid and non-neonicotinoid pesticides groups.We also expose key gaps in the literature that include a critical lack of studies on non-
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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.