Bees are important pollinators of agricultural crops, but this can expose them to pesticides while they collect nectar and pollen, some of which are very toxic to bees. Bees are known to be adept at tasting and differentiating sugary solutions. Certain toxic compounds, like quinine, taste “bitter” to bees, so the researchers sought to find out whether this sense of taste could help them avoid drinking pesticides.
The researchers used two methods to test whether bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) could taste neonicotinoid and sulfoximine pesticides in nectar which mimicked that of oilseed rape (Brassica napus), and if they would avoid drinking pesticides over a very broad range of concentrations. First, they used electrophysiology to record the responses of neurons in taste sensilla (i.e., ‘tastebuds’) on the bumblebee’s mouthparts. This allowed them to track how often neurons ‘fired’ and therefore the strength of response to the taste. The researchers also tested the bumblebees’ feeding behavior by offering them either pure sugar solutions or pesticide-laced sugar solutions to feed on. READ FULL ARTICLE