Neonicotinoid Pesticide Reduces Bumble Bee Colony Growth and Queen Production

Bad News for Bees Neonicotinoid insecticides were introduced in the early 1990s and have become one of the most widely used crop pesticides in the world. These compounds act on the insect central nervous system, and they have been shown to be persistent in the environment and in plant tissues. Recently, there have been controversial connections made between neonicotinoids and pollinator deaths, but the mechanisms underlying these potential deaths have remained unknown. Whitehorn et al. (p. 351 , published online 29 March) exposed developing colonies of bumble bees to low levels of the neonicotinoid imidacloprid and then released them to forage under natural conditions. Treated colonies displayed reduced colony…