VIII SIMPOSIO INTERNAZIONALE ICPBR

HAZARDS OF PESTICIDES TO BEES

Bologna, 4-6 Settembre 2002

Effetti di Pesticidi sui bombi e su altri apoidei

Laboratory assessment of pesticide toxicity to bumblebees

†Franco Marletto, Augusto Patetta and Aulo Manino

Di.Va.P.R.A. - Entomologia e Zoologia applicate all'Ambiente "Carlo Vidano", Università di Torino, Via Leonardo da Vinci 44, 10095 Grugliasco, Torino, Italia. E-mail: aulo.manino@unito.it

The toxicity towards Bombus terrestris (L.) of the insecticides acephate, buprofezin, carbaryl, cartap hydrochloride, chlorpyrifos-methyl, cyfluthrin, cyromazine, dimethoate, heptenophos, imidacloprid, lamda-cyhalothrin, methomyl, phosalone, pirimicarb, quinalphos, rotenone, and teflubenzuron, of the acaricides fenazaquin, fenpyroximate, hexythiazox, propargite, and tebufenpyrad and of the insecticide-acaricides abamectin and amitraz was tested in the laboratory.

Oral, topic contact, and indirect contact trials were carried out for each pesticide, employing formulated compounds dispersed in water at the highest field dose marked on the label. The pesticides that caused mortality higher than the untreated controls were tested also at decreasing concentrations until the mortality was statistically insignificative in comparison with that of the control; also the acute oral and topic contact LD50, the indirect contact LC50 and the related hazard ratios were calculated for these pesticides.