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Imidacloprid Impairs Performance On A Model Flower Handling Task In Bumblebees (Bombus Impatiens), Jordan D. Phelps
Imidacloprid Impairs Performance On A Model Flower Handling Task In Bumblebees (Bombus Impatiens), Jordan D. Phelps
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Bumblebees exposed to neonicotinoid pesticides collect less pollen on foraging trips. Exposed bumblebees are also slower to learn to handle flowers, which may account for reduced pollen collection. It is unclear, however, why neonicotinoid exposure slows learning to handle flowers. I investigated the effect of imidacloprid, a neonicotinoid pesticide, on bumblebee motor learning using a lab model of flower handling. Bumblebees learned to invert inside a narrow tube and lift a petal-shaped barrier to reach a reward chamber. Imidacloprid-exposed bumblebees showed a dose-dependent delay to solve the task, which resulted from reduced switching between behavioural strategies and a subsequent delay …