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Can poisons stimulate bees? Appreciating the potential of hormesis in bee–pesticide research
Author(s) -
Cutler G Christopher,
Rix Rachel R
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
pest management science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.296
H-Index - 125
eISSN - 1526-4998
pISSN - 1526-498X
DOI - 10.1002/ps.4042
Subject(s) - hormesis , pollinator , biology , toxicology , pesticide , stressor , environmental toxicology , honey bee , ecology , pollination , neuroscience , medicine , toxicity , pollen , biochemistry , oxidative stress
Hormesis, a biphasic dose response whereby exposure to low doses of a stressor can stimulate biological processes, has been reported in many organisms, including pest insects when they are exposed to low doses of a pesticide. However, awareness of the hormesis phenomenon seems to be limited among bee researchers, in spite of the increased emphasis of late on pollinator toxicology and risk assessment. In this commentary, we show that there are several examples in the literature of substances that are toxic to bees at high doses but stimulatory at low doses. Appreciation of the hormetic dose response by bee researchers will improve our fundamental understanding of how bees respond to low doses of chemical stressors, and may be useful in pollinator risk assessment. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry