Honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) larvae were reared in the incubator and were provisioned with an artificial diet and treated with concentrations of 9 different pesticides in two different experiments. In the first experiment, cell death in the midgut, salivary glands and ovaries of larval honeybees was detected using DNA fragmentation labeling and phosphatidylserine (PS). All applied pesticides triggered a significant increase in cell apoptosis in treated larvae over that in untreated larvae. The level of cell death in the midgut of simazine-treated larvae was highest at 77% mortality and statistically similar to the level of cell death for chlorpyrifos (65%), imidacloprid (61%), myclobutanil (69%), and glyphosate (69%) treated larvae. Larvae exposed to fluvalinate had the lowest midgut apoptotic columnar cell death (30%) of any pesticide treated larvae. Annexin V localization, indicative of apoptotic cell deletion, had an extensive distribution in the midgut, salivary glands and ovaries of pesticide-treated larvae. We have clearly demonstrated and localized cell death as an indicator for subclinical and sub-lethal effect of external influences on honey bee larval tissues.
COBISS.SI-ID: 3506280