title: Methyl parathion modifies foraging behaviour in honeybees (Apis mellifera).
abstract: We examined the effects of sublethal doses of an organophosphorus insecticide, Methyl Parathion (MeP), on the foraging behaviour of honeybees (Apis mellifera ligustica) in a flight cage. The results revealed that MeP modified the frequency of visits to a feeding station to which the bees had previously been trained. A dose of 50 ng per animal elicited an increase in the frequency of visits to the feeder, compared to control animals. A dose of 10 ng, on the other hand, led initially to a decrease in the visit frequency, followed by an increase to a level above that of the controls. A hypothesis is presented to account for the way in which MeP affects foraging behaviour. We propose that the behavioural assay presented here could be useful as a preliminary screening test to study sublethal effects of pesticides on foraging performance in honeybees.
authors.affiliation: Research School of Biological Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra. guez@rsbs.anu.edu.au
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Guez
authors.forename: Shao-Wu
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Mandyam V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Srinivasan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees; D001681:Biological Assay; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005106:Exploratory Behavior; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D007306:Insecticides / Q000633:toxicity*; D008743:Methyl Parathion / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D007306:Insecticides; D008743:Methyl Parathion