The effect of pesticides in learning and memory of native Brazilian bees

Abstract

The use of pesticides in Agriculture is one of the causes for the bees disappearing crisis around the world. Most studies about the effect of these toxic products in the biology of bees, the main pollinator group, have focused in Apis mellifera as a model. These studies reveal that pesticides affect larval development, cause high mortality and interfere in these bees learning and memory. Some studies also reveal the effect of pesticides in Brazilian bees, but there is a knowledge gab around their impact in these insects cognition. Bees' cognitive abilities are extremely important for foraging, as they learn about the quantity and quality of food through information obtained from the floral signals, such as color and odor, which then are used as reward predictors. This project proposes to answer how pesticides affect the learning and memory of native Brazilian bees. First, we will train Meliponini bees to visit artificial flowers that can contain or not pesticides, to evaluate if they can perceive the presence of these toxic products in the flowers and, thus, the vulnerability of these insects to pesticides. Yet, we will train Meliponini bees under the olfactory conditioning protocol of proboscis extension response, which will allow a precise evaluation of the effect of sublethal doses of pesticides in the learning and memory of adult bees. We expect to find negative effects of these toxic products in the memory and learning of native bees from Brazil, a country that has been increasingly allowing the use of new pesticides in Agriculture. (AU)