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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Albany, California » Western Regional Research Center » Invasive Species and Pollinator Health » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #409872
Research Project: Conduct Longitudinal Studies on Colony Performance and Explore Near-term Effects of Nutritional and Agrochemical Stressors on Honey Bee Health

Location: Invasive Species and Pollinator Health

Title: Indirect exposure to a juvenile hormone analog affects honey bee (Apis mellifera) reproductive behaviors, hatching, and ovarian protein expression

Author
item Fine, Julia
item MCAFEE, ALISON - University Of British Columbia

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/11/2024
Publication Date: 1/11/2024
Citation: Fine, J.D., Mcafee, A. 2024. Indirect exposure to a juvenile hormone analog affects honey bee (Apis mellifera) reproductive behaviors, hatching, and ovarian protein expression. Meeting Abstract. 01/11/2024.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Pesticide exposure and queen loss are major causes of honey bee colony loss, yet little is known regarding the effects of regularly encountered agrochemicals on honey bee reproduction and how agrochemical stress affects the offspring of exposed queens. Here, we present the results of a two-generational study wherein we exposed queens to commonly used insect growth disrupting pesticides (IGDs) via their retinue of worker bees. Under IGD exposure, we tracked queen performance and worker responses to queens, then the performance of the exposed queens’ offspring was assessed to identify patterns that may contribute to the long-term colony health and stability. The positive control, novaluron, resulted in deformed larvae hatching from eggs laid by exposed queens, and methoxyfenozide, diflubenzuron, and novaluron caused a slight decrease in daily egg laying rates. Curiously, eggs laid by queens exposed to a juvenile hormone analog, pyriproxyfen, exhibited increased hatching rates, and those larvae developed into worker progeny with increased responsiveness to their queens. Additionally, pyriproxyfen and novaluron exposure affected the queen ovarian protein expression, with the overwhelming majority of differentially expressed proteins coming from the pyriproxyfen exposure. In this presentation, we will discuss these results and our efforts to further investigate the effects of queen exposure to pyriproxyfen in order to identify other potential hormetic effects at the colony level.