Toxicity of Thiamethoxam, Behavioral Effects and Alterations in Chromatin of Apis mellifera L., 1758 (Hymenoptera; Apidae)

The great use of insecticides is affecting as much the insectʹs curses as other organisms. The insecticide Thiamethoxam is a composed neonicotinoid of high toxicity on bees. These works aimed at characterize in the chromatin of Malpighian tubules of workerʹs Apis mellifera with different ages the effect of this insecticide. Besides, the behavior of the same ones was analyzed, that it based on the observation of acceptance/rejection of the food and of the rate of the workerʹs mortality. For the analysis of the chromatin the technique of Critical Electrolytes Concentration (CEC) were undertaken with Toluidine Blue staining (TB) at pH 4.0. It is sensitive to differentiate types of complex DNA-proteins in chromatin in situ and in vitro. Behavioral differences, alterations in the values of CEC and chromatin structure were observed at different ages as different concentrations of the insecticide used, evidencing the toxicity of the same, mainly in low concentrations (sublethal doses).