CNN: New studies have found a commonly used pesticide is disrupting the sleep of bees and flies.
In one study, researchers looked at the effect of pesticides on bumblebee behavior by giving the creatures nectar sugar laced with neonicotinoids — one of the most commonly used pesticides — and then tracking their movements in a foraging arena.The impact of the pesticide — similar to the amount a bee would encounter in the wild — was stark.”It seems to disrupt the body clock in foraging bumblebees — they forage much less, more of that foraging is happening at nighttime, and they are sleeping a lot more in the daytime.
It’s causing a mistiming of their normal behaviors,” Kiah Tasman, teaching associate at the University of Bristol’s School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, told CNN.
This, she explained, could have serious implications: “It’s quite worrying because other studies and our studies show that the foraging motivation has decreased.”
