Assistant professor University of Texas Austin, Texas
Neonicotinoids are some of the most commonly-used pesticides worldwide, with known sub-lethal effects on colony growth and reproduction. One proposed driver of these effects is impairment to bees' ability to forage efficiently through effects on their cognition. However, the majority of work on this topic has used simplified lab-based protocols, arguably failing to capture ecologically realistic foraging behavior. Through a series of free-flying experiments with bumblebees, I show how a commonly-used neonicotinoid affects bee foraging behavior via effects on motivation and motor coordination. In addition, I found modality-specific impairment to learning, with neonicotinoids affect bees' olfactory, but not visual, learning abilities. I discuss the broader implications of our findings that neonicotinoids impair bees' olfactory abilities.
