MIT engineers repurpose wasp venom as an antibiotic drug. By Anne Trafton. news.mit.edu. December 07, 2018. Altered peptides from a South American wasp’s venom can kill bacteria but are nontoxic to human cells.The venom of insects such as wasps and bees is full of compounds that can kill bacteria. Unfortunately, many of these compounds are […]

Pesticide exposure can dramatically impact bees’ social behaviors, study shows. sciencedaily.com. November 8, 2018. Summary: Using an innovative robotic platform to observe bees’ behavior, researchers showed that, following exposure to neonicotinoid pesticides — the most commonly-used class of pesticides in agriculture — bees spent less time nursing larvae and were less social that other bees. […]

Common weed killer linked to bee deaths. eurekalert.org. September 24, 2018. The world’s most widely used weed killer may also be indirectly killing bees. New research from The University of Texas at Austin shows that honey bees exposed to glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, lose some of the beneficial bacteria in their guts and […]

Agricultural fungicide attracts honey bees. sciencedaily.com. January 8, 2018. When given the choice, honey bee foragers prefer to collect sugar syrup laced with the fungicide chlorothalonil over sugar syrup alone, researchers report. When given the choice, honey bee foragers prefer to collect sugar syrup laced with the fungicide chlorothalonil over sugar syrup alone, researchers report […]

Neonicotinoid insecticides linked to wild bee decline across England. sciencedaily.com. August 16, 2016. Summary: Exposure to neonicotinoid seed treated oilseed rape crops has been linked to long-term population decline of wild bee species across the English countryside, according to research.Exposure to neonicotinoid seed treated oilseed rape crops has been linked to long-term population decline of […]

Bees’ ability to forage decreases as air pollution increases. sciencedaily.com. July 06, 2016. Summary:Air pollutants interact with and break down plant-emitted scent molecules, which insect pollinators use to locate needed food, according to a team of researchers. The pollution-modified plant odors can confuse bees and, as a result, bees’ foraging time increases and pollination efficiency […]

Toxicological trivia from July 02, 2016: The Vespidae are a large  (nearly 5000 species), diverse, cosmopolitan family of wasps, including nearly all the known eusocial wasps (such as Polistes fuscatus, Polistes annularis, and Vespula germanica) and many solitary wasps. In trivia # 335 we talk about nest of Vespidae.  There are over 130 species of […]

Neonicotinoid pesticides cause harm to honeybees. eurekalert.org. June 24, 2016. Mainz researchers discover new mechanism associated with the worldwide decline of bee populations.One possible cause of the alarming bee mortality we are witnessing is the use of the very active systemic insecticides called neonicotinoids.  A previously unknown and harmful effect of neonicotinoids has been identified […]

Toxicological trivia from June 10, 2016: in the previous trivia (# 335) we mentioned that the vespid (Vespidae) are a family of Hymenoptera which includes nearly all the known eusocial wasps and many solitary wasps. A tarantula hawk is a spider wasp which hunts tarantulas. Tarantula hawks belong to any of the many species in […]

Toxicological trivia from June 03, 2016: The Hymenoptera are one of the largest orders of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees and ants, like we talked in trivia # 263. The Vespidae are a large  (nearly 5000 species), diverse, cosmopolitan family of wasps, including nearly all the known eusocial wasps (such as Polistes fuscatus, Polistes […]

Honeybees pick up ‘astonishing’ number of pesticides via non-crop plants. sciencedaily.com. May 31, 2016. Summary: Honeybees collect the vast majority of their pollen from plants other than crops, even in areas dominated by corn and soybeans, and that pollen is consistently contaminated with a host of agricultural and urban pesticides throughout the growing season. Abejas […]

Toxicological Trivia from May 27, 2016: we mentioned  in our previous trivia (333) the Camoati (Polybia scutellaris) as biological control of basket bug. In a bulletin we mentioned that "Wasps: a revealing thesis" was a research conducted at the University of Buenos Aires that could provide an explanation for a curious fact of nature. Why […]

Pollinators vital to our food supply under threat.ipbes.net. February 26, 2016. A growing number of pollinator species worldwide are being driven toward extinction by diverse pressures, many of them human-made, threatening millions of livelihoods and hundreds of billions of dollars worth of food supplies, according to the first global assessment of pollinators. However, the assessment, a […]

Bee flower choices altered by exposure to pesticides.sciencedaily.com.  March 14, 2016. Summary: Low levels of pesticides can impact the foraging behaviour of bumblebees on wildflowers, changing their floral preferences and hindering their ability to learn the skills needed to extract nectar and pollen. Low levels of pesticides can impact the foraging behaviour of bumblebees on […]

57 different pesticides found in poisoned honeybees. sciencedaily.com. March 10, 2016. A new method to detect a wide range of pesticides could help save bee populations. Summary: European honeybees are being poisoned with up to 57 different pesticides, according to new research. A new method for detecting a whole range of pesticides in bees could […]

Bees ‘dumb down’ after ingesting tiny doses of the pesticide chlorpyrifos. sciencedaily.com. March 01, 2016. Summary: Honeybees suffer severe learning and memory deficits after ingesting very small doses of the pesticide chlorpyrifos, potentially threatening their success and survival, new research suggests.Honeybees suffer severe learning and memory deficits after ingesting very small doses of the pesticide […]

Honeybee hive collapse mystery rooted in hive size. sciencedaily.com. February 24, 2016.  Summary: Scientists are working to understand a baffling but vitally important puzzle: What is causing the decline of honeybees? A new mathematical model demonstrates vulnerability of hives with too few bees. The model indicates that any or all suspected environmental factors, alone or […]

Toxicological Trivia from November 20, 2015: In a recent article we talk about the "Batesian mimicry of a sirphid in Patagonia" (See in Spanish), a fly that imitates a bumblebee’. Hoverflies, sometimes called flower flies, sweat bees or syrphid flies, make up the insect family Syrphidae. As their common name suggests, they are often seen […]

Honey bee queens highly vulnerable to two neonicotinoid insecticides. sciencedaily.com. October 13, 2015. Summary:Throughout the northern hemisphere, beekeepers have struggled to maintain adequate numbers of honey bee colonies for crop pollination and honey production due to dramatic increases in colony deaths each year. Recent surveys of beekeepers suggest that poor queen health is an important […]

Buzz the alarm: Climate change puts squeeze on bumblebees. Decline in bumblebee species, and their habitats, caused by global warming. sciencedaily.com. July 09, 2015. In the most comprehensive study ever conducted of the impacts of climate change on critical pollinators, scientists have discovered that global warming is rapidly shrinking the area where bumblebees are found […]

Toxicological trivia from June 04, 2015:  Bees are a recurring theme of our toxicological trivias, perhaps because they are very photogenic. Dismissing the trivia 263 (Hymenoptera stings) that includes a group: ¿How many trivia  has devoted Sertox to bees?:a) Two;b) Three;c) Four. Abeja en lavanda (Sertox) Correct Answer:  c.  1) Trivia (93) abeja en flor; 2) Trivia (140) insecticida […]

Tropical fire ants traveled the world on 16th century ships. sciencedaily.com. February 18, 2015. Summary: Thanks to a bit of genetic sleuthing, researchers now know the invasion history of the tropical fire ant (Solenopsis geminata), the first ant species known to travel the globe by sea.Thanks to a bit of genetic sleuthing, researchers now know […]