What are Neonicotinoids?

Neonicotinoids, or neonics, as the cool people call them, are a family of neuro-active insecticides chemically similar to nicotine that kill insects by acting on the nerve synapses and therefore preventing their normal function.

Neonics are popular. As of 2013, they’ve been used in the U.S. on about 95 percent of corn and canola crops, the majority of cotton, sorghum, and sugar beets, and about half of all soybeans.

They’re also used on the vast majority of fruit and vegetables, including apples, cherries, peaches, oranges, berries, leafy greens, tomatoes, and potatoes, to cereal grains, rice, nuts, and wine grapes.

Why are Neonicotinoids harmful?

Neonicotinoids are potent neurotoxins, which is why they’re so effective as insecticides. They are absorbed into the plant sap and transported to the pollen. Neonicotinoids – specifically imidacloprid, clothianidin, thiamethoxam, and dinotefuran – can cause serious harm to bees and are believed to be contributing to colony collapse disorder, which has seen the death of millions of honeybees.

Neonicotinoids and honeybees

The vast majority of human food depends on pollination from honeybees as bees allow the production of at least 70 commercial crops in North America. Honeybees pollinate more than 90 flowering crops, including citrus, peaches, berries, melons, apples, nuts, avocados, soybeans, asparagus, and cucumbers.

Honeybees are essential to the survival of plant and animal species all over the world, but they have been suffering devastating losses thanks to the widespread use of neonics.

In fact, the latest research shows that these chemicals have reduced sperm production in drones by 81%, resulted in fewer eggs laid by queen bees by 30%, and even caused complete hive collapse.

Cotton and the use of neonicotinoids

Neonicotinoid seed treatments are well suited for cotton, because they offer broad spectrum protection against many sucking insects, such as thrips and aphids, which are common early-season cotton pests.

Because they’re so effective, neonics are spread on nearly all cotton in the US – about 14 million acres. In total, these insecticides will be used across at least 150 million acres of cropland, an area about the size of Texas.

When coated seeds are planted, this combination of neonicotinoids and seeds tends to make its way into the surrounding soil and water, where it becomes a persistent toxin.

Neonicotinoids effects on other wildlife

Neonicotinoids commonly leach into soil, accumulating in bodies of water that normally incubate insects. Declines in those insect populations in turn affect predators up the food chain.

Additionally, some seed-eating bird species can be poisoned by neonicotinoid-coated seeds.

In March 2013, the American Bird Conservancy published a commentary on 200 studies on neonicotinoids calling for a ban on neonicotinoid use as seed treatments because of their toxicity to birds, aquatic invertebrates, and other wildlife.

the depletion of the birds' food source (insects) is likely responsible for the decline and that the compounds are distributed widely in the environment.

From June to October 2014 a comprehensive Worldwide Integrated Assessment of the impact of systemic pesticides on biodiversity and ecosystems (WIA)[119] was published in the journal Environmental Science and Pollution Research. In a series of papers, it concludes that these systemic insecticides pose a serious risk of harm to a broad range of non-target invertebrate taxa, often below the expected environmental concentrations, that their present use is not a sustainable pest management approach, and compromises the actions of numerous stakeholders in maintaining and supporting biodiversity, and this compromise subsequently negatively affects the ecological functions and services the diverse organisms perform.

Why Eucalyptus trees don’t require insecticides

Eucalyptus trees are a group of evergreen flowering trees that are native to Australia. Aside from making the softest, smoothest sheets on Earth, Eucalyptus trees produce compounds called nectarolides (a type of terpenoid) that allows the plant to ward off many pests on its own.

Prevalence in US

https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2018/07/02/viewpoint-neonicotinoid-use-on-field-crops-should-be-reined-in/

A new study is out, and it´s a bombshell. Neonictonoids are destroying honeybee populations around the world, leading to a slow decline of pollination and thus threatening a food supply that depends on it. There is an estimated to be about 100 crop species that we depend on which rely on bees for pollination, so this is no small matter.

Nenoic Use in The US

EU Ban on Nenonics

On 27 April 2018, member states of the European Union agreed upon a total ban on neonicotinoid insecticide use, except within closed greenhouses. The ban is likely to be imposed from the end of 2018.[58] The ban applies to the three main neonicotinoid active compounds: clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam.

Effect on Honeybees

Neonicotinoids may induce multiple sublethal effects in exposed bees (for a thorough review see [81]), e.g. they affect bees' ability to fly[82] and forage, learn and remember navigation routes to and from food sources.[83] In lab studies, neonicotinoids were shown to increase mortality rates.[8

Neonicotinoids may be responsible for detrimental effects on bumble bee colony growth and queen production.[86] For example, Bombus affinis, a bumblebee endemic to North America, has decreased in nearly 90% of its natural habitats, much of which has been attributed to the use of neonicotinoid based pesticides.

An October 2013 study by Italian researchers demonstrated that neonicotinoids disrupt bees' immune systems, making them susceptible to viral infections to which the bees are normally resistant.

An October 2015 study demonstrated significant effects on the survival and reproductive capacities of honey bee queens exposed to neonicotinoids. Those exposed to neonicotinoids had 60% survival rates, as compared to 80% for control groups. Lower worker egg production and alterations to surviving queens' reproductive anatomy "likely corresponded to reduced queen success (alive and producing worker offspring)." The authors further claim "our study suggests that these substances [i.e., neonicotinoids] are, at least partially, responsible for harming queens and causing population declines of social bee species. Failure of queens exposed to neonicotinoids during development to successfully lay fertilised eggs that subsequently develop into workers or queens is worrisome; both castes are vital to colony survival..."

The new studies say the environmental levels of neonicotinoids surrounding farms do not obliterate bee colonies outright, but instead kill them over extended periods of time. The pesticides also threaten bee queens in particular — which means colonies have lower reproductive rates. The two studies — one that examined honeybees in Canada and the other that looked at three bee species in the United Kingdom, Germany and Hungary — were the first large-scale investigations to test the popular agrochemicals influence on bees in real world settings.

Nenoics and Cotton