TY  - JOUR
A1  - Hesselbach, Hannah
A1  - Scheiner, Ricarda
T1  - Effects of the novel pesticide flupyradifurone (Sivanto) on honeybee taste and cognition
JF  - Scientific Reports
N2  - Due to intensive agriculture honeybees are threatened by various pesticides. The use of one group of them, the neonicotinoids, was recently restricted by the European Union. These chemicals bind to the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAchR) in the honeybee brain. Recently, Bayer AG released a new pesticide by the name of “Sivanto” against sucking insects. It is assumed to be harmless for honeybees, although its active ingredient, flupyradifurone, binds nAchR similar to the neonicotinoids. We investigated if this pesticide affects the taste for sugar and cognitive performance in honeybee foragers. These bees are directly exposed to the pesticide while foraging for pollen or nectar. Our results demonstrate that flupyradifurone can reduce taste and appetitive learning performance in honeybees foraging for pollen and nectar, although only the highest concentration had significant effects. Most likely, honeybee foragers will not be exposed to these high concentrations. Therefore, the appropriate use of this pesticide is considered safe for honeybees, at least with respect to the behaviors studied here.
KW  - animal behaviour
KW  - chemical ecology
KW  - pesticide
KW  - honeybee
KW  - taste
KW  - cognition
KW  - flupyradifurone
Y1  - 2018
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-175853
VL  - 8
IS  - 4954
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Frank, Erik T.
A1  - Kesner, Lucie
A1  - Liberti, Joanito
A1  - Helleu, Quentin
A1  - LeBoeuf, Adria C.
A1  - Dascalu, Andrei
A1  - Sponsler, Douglas B.
A1  - Azuma, Fumika
A1  - Economo, Evan P.
A1  - Waridel, Patrice
A1  - Engel, Philipp
A1  - Schmitt, Thomas
A1  - Keller, Laurent
T1  - Targeted treatment of injured nestmates with antimicrobial compounds in an ant society
JF  - Nature Communications
N2  - Infected wounds pose a major mortality risk in animals. Injuries are common in the ant Megaponera analis, which raids pugnacious prey. Here we show that M. analis can determine when wounds are infected and treat them accordingly. By applying a variety of antimicrobial compounds and proteins secreted from the metapleural gland to infected wounds, workers reduce the mortality of infected individuals by 90%. Chemical analyses showed that wound infection is associated with specific changes in the cuticular hydrocarbon profile, thereby likely allowing nestmates to diagnose the infection state of injured individuals and apply the appropriate antimicrobial treatment. This study demonstrates that M. analis ant societies use antimicrobial compounds produced in the metapleural glands to treat infected wounds and reduce nestmate mortality.
KW  - animal behaviour
KW  - chemical ecology
KW  - entomology
KW  - microbial ecology
KW  - proteomics
Y1  - 2023
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-358081
VL  - 14
ER  -