Doses subletais de pesticida (acetamiprido) não influenciam na sobrevivência mas afetam significativamente a comunicação da abelha Melipona quadrifasciata (Apidae: Meliponini)

Abstract

The use of pesticides in agricultural crops has increased significantly over the years. Its use seems to affect individuals and colonies of insects, and among them, the bees that are the pollinating agents found in greater numbers in the environment. The nocive effects generated by pesticides on bees has warning beekeepers and researchers global wide. In the present study, we testes several doses of the pesticide Fastac Duo (acetamiprid) to infer toxicity and effect in the social behavior of the stingless bees Melipona quadrifascita (Lepetelier, 1863). For this, individuals of the species were inoculated with 10μl of five different doses of the pesticide and observed for a period of 120h for the determination of a sublethal dose. The bees were then divided into trios, and after one bee had been exposed to the pesticide, the social behaviour of the three individuals were analysed. The antennation and trophylaxis between treated and untreated individuals were evaluated. Mortality caused by sublethal doses did not differ significantly between doses within 120 hours of experiment. When analyzing the social behavior, it was observed that the treatment with the pesticide interferes in the interaction between the treated and untreated bees, being able to infer that the studied neonicotinoid pesticide causes negative impact on the communication of the bee M. quadrifasciata.