Toxicity of Insecticides on Indian Honey Bee Apis cerana indica F. and Stingless Bee Tetragonula iridipennis S. in Cashew

The contact toxicity of insecticides used in the cashew ecosystem viz., thiamethoxam, carbosulfan, buprofezin, lambdacyhalothrin, imidacloprid, chlorpyriphos and profenophos were evaluated against Indian bee Apis cerana indica F., and stingless bee Tetragonula iridipennis S. under laboratory conditions. It was observed that buprofezin caused the least mortality of 21.48 and 19.91% with A. cerana indica and T. iridipennis, respectively; chlorpyriphos led to maximum mortality of 100% to with both the bees, and thus highly toxic at 24 hours after treatment (HAT). Imidacloprid led to >70% mortality with both the bee species at 24 HAT, while it varied from 40 to 60% the bees with thiamethoxam, carbosulfan and lambda cyhalothrin at 24 HAT.