You are here:
The Chronic Oral Test with Bombus impatiens
Citation:
Cabrera, A., D. Lehmann, AND M. Patnaude. The Chronic Oral Test with Bombus impatiens. ICPPR - Non-Apis Working Group, Monheim, Baden Wurttemburg, GERMANY, February 27 - 28, 2019.
Impact/Purpose:
This presentation describes an effort to develop and validate a standardized chronic toxicity test for adult bumble bees.
Description:
EPA is responsible for evaluating the effects of pesticides on beneficial insects such as bees. The Agency developed a risk assessment process where honey bees are used as a surrogate for predicting toxicity in other species of bees including bumble bees. Bumble bees are important pollinators in both natural and managed ecosystems. Recognizing that the ecology of bumble bees is different from that of honey bees, there is a need for tools for investigating potential differences in pesticide sensitivity between these species. Currently, there are no validated methods for evaluating chronic toxicity in bumbles bees under controlled, defined laboratory conditions. This presentation describes an international effort to develop a 10-day chronic toxicity test for bumble bees. Typically, these efforts are conducted using European species of bees and questions remain about the suitability of these species as surrogates for other bee species. For this effort, Bombus impatiens, a North American species of bumble bee, was included in the study design. Consequently, this effort provided an opportunity to not only contribute to the development of standardized methodologies for risk assessment, but also generated data needed to answer questions about inter-species pesticide sensitivity.