Sustained exposure to high dietary ethanol impairs bumblebee survival and locomotor performance
Ethanol occurs naturally in sugar-rich foods used by insects, but its effects in bees have been studied primarily in honeybees. We tested whether dietary ethanol affects survival and locomotor performance in workers of the bumblebee Bombus terrestris (L.). In the survival experiment, workers were fed ethanol (0, 1, or 10%) for 21 days; in the locomotor experiment, they were fed the same doses for…
Recent studies have investigated the impact of high dietary ethanol on the survival and locomotor performance of bumblebees. Unlike honeybees, where ethanol's effects have been primarily studied, this research focused on the bumblebee species Bombus terrestris. In the first part of the experiment, workers were exposed to ethanol concentrations of 0, 1, or 10% for 21 days to assess survival rates.
In the second part, the same groups were exposed to the same ethanol doses for one or seven days, after which their spontaneous movement was measured using an open-field assay. The measurements included the proportion of time spent moving, speed of movement, path meander (curviness), and arena exploration.
The results showed that the 10% ethanol concentration significantly increased the risk of mortality among the bumblebees. The impact of 1% ethanol was smaller and statistically inconclusive. However, when it came to locomotion, the most significant differences were observed after seven days of exposure to 10% ethanol. These workers exhibited greater path meander and lower exploration compared to their control counterparts.
Additionally, their speed of movement was the lowest among the groups. The researchers found that exposure for just one day at the same concentration did not produce a clear locomotor effect. The findings provide valuable comparative data on sustained ethanol exposure in bumblebees, demonstrating a strong concentration-dependent contrast.
The results showed substantial effects under high-concentration challenges but no clear effects on the measured endpoints at the lower 1% concentration.
Written by urgent.news from bioRxiv's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
