Bumblebees

Ganze Landstriche ohne bestäubende Insekten – in China schon heute Wirklichkeit. Dort müssen Bäume und Pflanzen bereits von Hand bestäubt werden, und in wenigen Jahren könnte es auch in Deutschland so weit sein. Denn neueste Forschungsergebnisse zeigen: Auch bei uns ist der Bestand von Wildbienen und anderen Insekten drastisch gesunken. Wenn dieser Trend sich fortsetze, so Experten, sterben sie in weniger als zehn Jahren aus.

Systemic neonicotinoid (neonic) exposure is associated with reductions in colony size and changes in foraging behavior, according to a recent field study done by a team of scientists at Imperial College London.

In Deutschland gibt es immer weniger Bienen, immer weniger Hummeln, immer weniger Schmetterlinge. Überhaupt gibt es immer weniger Insekten! Das haben Forscher aus Krefeld herausgefunden. Das ist eine Stadt im Bundesland Nordrhein-Westfalen. 25 Jahre lang haben die Forscher an bestimmten Orten Insekten gesammelt, ihre Art bestimmt und die Tiere gewogen. Das Ergebnis der Forscher: In dieser Zeit stellten sie einen Rückgang an Insekten von bis zu 80 Prozent fest. Gesammelt haben die Forscher vor allem in Nordrhein-Westfalen.

On Friday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service gave seven species of yellow-faced bees that are native to Hawaii islands an endangered status. The Xerces Society, the conservation group that advocated for the bees' new designation, said that these are the first bees in the country to be included in the endangered species list. Once among the most populous species of insects in Hawaii, the yellow-faced bees experienced a sharp drop in number over the past century. The population decline is blamed on humans destroying bee habitats and using crop dusting that are toxic to the pollinators.

The rusty patched bumble bee population has finally reached endangered levels. On Wednesday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed the bees be classified as an endangered species—the first wild bee species in the continental U.S. to be formally recommended for federal protection under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, according to Reuters. The bees, scientifically known as Bombus affinis, are nicknamed for the red blotch on their abdomen.

Butterflies have joined the ranks of honeybees, bumblebees, moths and other insects that may be feeling the effects of the controversial neonicitinoid insecticides. UK researchers have found that even insects which do not pollinate oilseed rape may be harmed by the chemicals. Neonicotinoids - or neonics for short - are insecticides similar to nicotine, acting on the central nervous system to paralyse insects. One of them, imidacloprid, is the most widely used insecticide in the world.

Les chercheurs de l'Institut national de recherche agronomique (Inra) démontrent, dans une nouvelle étude, que l'exposition des mâles d'abeille au pesticide fipronil "affecte indirectement la capacité de reproduction des reines". Leurs résultats sont parus le 23 août dernier dans "Scientific Reports". Pour rappel, le fipronil appartient à la famille chimique des phénylpyrazoles. Le 31 décembre 2013, la Commission européenne avait interdit pendant deux ans son usage, pour le traitement des semences de tournesol et de maïs dans l'Union européenne.

Bumblebees are valuable pollinators and, like honeybees, contribute to crop production worldwide. During pollination, they come into contact with pesticides, which affect their vitality and behaviour. Moreover, the applications of pesticide mixtures in agriculture increase exposure risks to many animals, including insects. In this study, Bombus terrestris workers were fed with imidacloprid, cypermethrin and dimethoate, either as single compounds or as mixtures.