Impacts of flupyradifurone on the midgut and brain of the neotropical social bee Scaptotrigona postica and its behavioral effects

To reduce the damage caused by pesticides to non-target organisms, new active ingredients have been developed. Flupyradifurone, for example, was created with the proposal of being a safer alternative for the environment and non-target organisms. However, the effects of this insecticide on native bees in neotropical countries remain poorly understood, as most studies have been conducted on the Apis mellifera model bee. Using the species Scaptotrigona postica, in chronic oral exposure at an environmentally relevant concentration (4 mg/kg), we found that exposure to flupyradifurone did not interfere with bee survival. In addition, the insecticide was not able to alter the morphology of the midgut of the individuals, at least along 7 days of bioassay, but it did alter the arrangement of the Kenyon cells in the brains of the exposed bees. However, despite not having affected biomarkers at the tissue level and survival, the insecticide exposure reduced the bees' locomotion parameters, which may affect the performance of the exposed bees.