Diet effects on bumblebee health

[en] Among physiological processes, the maintenance of immunity is one of the most energetically costly in invertebrates. Disease resistance can be quantified by measuring immunocompetence, which is defined as the ability of an organism to mount an immune response, either in cellular, humoral or behavioural forms. In insects, immune capacity can be affected by a variety of factors including pesticides, genetic diversity or diet. Here we focus on an important species of domesticated pollinator, Bombus terrestris, and the potential impact of a poor pollen diet (low nutritional content and toxic) on its health. We investigate three responses at both colony and individual levels: behavioural, humoral and cellular. Our results show that poor pollen diets decrease larval and pupal masses and increase larval ejection as well as adult constitutive immunity (i.e., prophenoloxidase assays). The susceptibility of bumblebees to disease and infection might therefore be greater after a nutritive stress. These findings raise the importance of available plant hosts, especially floral plant species providing pollen with suitable nutritive quality (i.e., nutrient pollen content) for bumblebees. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd

Disciplines :

Entomology & pest control
Environmental sciences & ecology

Author, co-author :

Roger, N. ^✱; Research Institute for Biosciences, Laboratory of Zoology, University of Mons – UMONS, Place du Parc 20, B-7000 Mons, Belgium

Michez, D. ^✱; Research Institute for Biosciences, Laboratory of Zoology, University of Mons – UMONS, Place du Parc 20, B-7000 Mons, Belgium

Wattiez, R.; Department of Proteomic and Microbiology, Institute for Biosciences, University of Mons – UMONS, Place du Parc 20, B-7000 Mons, Belgium

Sheridan, C.; Research Institute for Biosciences, Biology of Marine Organisms and Biomimetics, University of Mons – UMONS, Place du Parc 20, B-7000 Mons, Belgium

Vanderplanck, Maryse ; University of Mons > Research Institute for Biosciences > Laboratory of Zoology

^✱ These authors have contributed equally to this work.

Language :

English

Title :

Diet effects on bumblebee health

Publication date :

2017

Journal title :

Journal of Insect Physiology

ISSN :

0022-1910

Publisher :

Elsevier Ltd

Volume :

Pages :

128-133

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Available on ORBi :

since 10 January 2017

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