Effects of a relevant concentration of field of thiamethoxam in intestine and brain of Apis mellifera honey after exposure during the larval phase

Abstract

Apis mellifera bees Africanized belong to the family Apidae being that this species is of great importance in the service of pollination in which involves the maintenance of the diversity of plants as well as the production of food. The increase of agricultural crops have resulted in wide use of pesticides, making use of these more and more frequent. Among the pesticides, stand out the neonicotinoids, which are widely used because they are effective in the fight against pests. However, by their mode of action systemic, can also affect the bees directly or indirectly. In addition to the adult bees, the larvae can also be contaminated by pollen, nectar and wax contaminated, from collections by forage. In this way, it is of utmost importance to perform ecotoxicological studies in order to verify the possible effects of these insecticides on the bees, and thus assess the impact of these xenobiotic for bees, which will allow new strategies of protection and conservation of these pollinators. In this regard, the present study proposes to evaluate the exposure of larvae of Apis mellifera honey at a concentration of field of thiamethoxam may cause morphological changes in the intestine and brain of workers newly emerged through the Hematoxylin and Eosin (H-E) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM).