ArticleScientific reports2019
A neonicotinoid pesticide impairs foraging, but not learning, in free-flying bumblebees.
Article in Scientific reports, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers.
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Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed.
- The Future of Native Bees in Australia Under Environmental and Anthropogenic Change.Ecology and evolution · 2026Review
- Sulfoxaflor reduces food intake and learning efficiency of solitary Osmia bicornis bees.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Review
- Assessing species-specific neonicotinoid toxicity using cross-species chimeric nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in a Drosophila model.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Article
- Impacts of a fungicide and an insecticide on pollinator visitation and wildflower fitness.Functional ecology · 2025Article
- The impact of landscape complexity and composition on honey bee visual learning.The Journal of experimental biology · 2025Article
- A wild bumble bee shows intraspecific differences in sensitivity to multiple pesticides.Royal Society open science · 2025Article
- Discovery and biological characterization of a novel mesoionic insecticide fenmezoditiaz.Pest management science · 2025Article
- Exposure to an insecticide formulation alters chemosensory orientation, but not floral scent detection, in buff-tailed bumblebees (Bombus terrestris).Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Bumblebee Foraging Dynamics and Pollination Outcomes for Cherry Tomato and Pear Varieties in Northern China.Insects · 2024Article
- Review
- Stimulus intensity and temporal configuration interact during bimodal learning and memory in honey bees.PloS one · 2024Article
- A neonicotinoid pesticide alters Drosophila olfactory processing.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Contrasting effects of fungicide and herbicide active ingredients and their formulations on bumblebee learning and behaviour.The Journal of experimental biology · 2023Article
- Evaluation of Pesticide Residues Occurrence in Random Samples of Organic Fruits and Vegetables Marketed in Poland.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Chronic exposure to insecticides impairs honeybee optomotor behaviour.Frontiers in insect science · 2022Article
- Context-Dependent Effect of Dietary Phytochemicals on Honey Bees Exposed to a Pesticide, Thiamethoxam.Journal of insect science (Online) · 2021Article
- Using radio frequency identification and locomotor activity monitoring to assess sleep, locomotor, and foraging rhythmicity in bumblebees.STAR protocols · 2021Article
- Landscape Enhancements in Apple Orchards: Higher Bumble Bee Queen Species Richness, but No Effect on Apple Quality.Insects · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Neonicotinoids are widely-used pesticides implicated in the decline of bees, known to have sub-lethal effects on bees' foraging and colony performance. One proposed mechanism for these negative effects is impairment to bees' ability to learn floral associations. However, the effects of neonicotinoids on learning performance have largely been addressed using a single protocol, where immobilized bees learn an association based on a single sensory modality. We thus have an incomplete understanding of how these pesticides affect bee learning in more naturalistic foraging scenarios. We carried out the first free-foraging study into the effects of acute exposure of a neonicotinoid (imidacloprid) on bumblebees' (Bombus impatiens) ability to learn associations with visual stimuli. We uncovered dose-dependent detrimental effects on motivation to initiate foraging, amount of nectar collected, and initiation of subsequent foraging bouts. However, we did not find any impairment to bees' ability to learn visual associations. While not precluding the possibility that other forms of learning are impaired, our findings suggest that some of the major effects of acute neonicotinoid exposure on foraging performance may be due to motivational and/or sensory impairments. In light of these findings, we discuss more broadly how pesticide effects on pollinator cognition might be studied.
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