Figure 3: Consequences of drone exposure on queens.
From: Drone exposure to the systemic insecticide Fipronil indirectly impairs queen reproductive potential
Following the exposure of drones in the experiment conducted in 2014, a portion of the collected semen was used to instrumentally inseminate 2 groups of 40 queens each. Two weeks later, the surviving queens in the control (n = 28) and Fipronil groups (n = 30) were weighed and dissected, and the spermathecae were analyzed to determine (a) queen weight, (b) the number of spermatozoa (spz) stored in the spermatheca, (c) the mortality rate of spz expressed as a percentage (%) of stored spz, and (d) live spz available to fertilize eggs, deducted from the two previous parameters. A t-test was applied to statistically analyzed queen weight (a). For parameters (b–d), statistical analyses were performed using a generalized linear mixed model with a random effect on the hive from which the sperm capillaries originated.
