The neonicotinoid acetamiprid (ACE) and emamectin benzoate (EMB) are widely utilized agrochemicals worldwide in crop protection. Most previous studies have evaluated on the toxicity of individual insecticides on honeybees. This study evaluated formula...
The neonicotinoid acetamiprid (ACE) and emamectin benzoate (EMB) are widely utilized agrochemicals worldwide in crop protection. Most previous studies have evaluated on the toxicity of individual insecticides on honeybees. This study evaluated formulation of combined toxicities of acetamiprid (8%) and emamectin ben zoate (2.15%) through oral and contact exposures to Apis mellifera. The binary mixture had a lethal dose (LD 50 ) of 1 × 10 − 3 µg/bee (oral) and 4 × 10 − 5 µg/bee (contact) to adult honeybees and a lethal concentration (LC 50 ) of 2 × 10 − 1 µg/ml to larvae. The mixture’s oral and contact hazard quotient were significantly greater than ACE, with values of 17,400 and 5000, respectively. The estimated additive indices (AI) showed that ACE and EMB inter acted additively with AI values of 0.047 (oral), 0.01 (contact), and 0.02 (larval). The mixture also reduced the survival of larvae, affected proboscis extension response (PER) scores, and impacted the ability of honeybees to discriminate odors. The authors recommend a field study to investigate the mixture’s adverse effects on hon eybees further.