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Highway to brood cell: bumblebees ingest and transfer tire wear particles more frequently than polystyrene microplastics
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Bumblebees exposed to tire wear particles (tiny bits of rubber from car tires) ate and spread them throughout their colonies—including to larvae—far more often than they did with polystyrene microplastics, the more commonly studied type. Since tire particles are everywhere in cities and roadways, this suggests they could pose a bigger threat to pollinators than scientists previously realized, and it's a reminder that not all microplastics behave the same way once they enter the food chain that eventually connects to us.
Pollinators like bumblebees are exposed to microplastics (MP) pollution during foraging. After returning to the colony foragers may subsequently spread MP in the nest or transfer ingested MP to larvae during cooperative brood care. Experimental studies have shown that MP can exert negative effects on hymenopteran pollinators, such as impaired cognition or increased mortality. However, as physical and chemical properties of MP depend on polymer type, effects of MP and also their transfer within colonies may be polymer-specific. Currently research has predominantly focused on standard MP types like polystyrene particles (PS-MP). However, especially in urban environments tire wear particles (TWP) constitute a major MP source. We thus compared the uptake and transfer of PS-MP and the environmentally relevant TWP within colonies of the buff-tailed bumblebee Bombus terrestris. B. terrestris colonies were fed with sugar water spiked with 0.4 % w/v PS-MP or TWP for four weeks, after which we examined the gut system of workers and larvae and the whole body of pupae, as well as honeypot contents and wax for the presence of MP using stereo microscopy. We show that TWP were significantly more frequently ingested by workers, transferred to larvae, and incorporated into nesting materials than PS-MP. We suggest that bumblebees fail to recognise TWP as pollutants, potentially due to their rough surface, which may facilitate ‘masking’ of the particles by a coating of sugar water. Given the widespread presence of TWP in human-altered landscapes and the higher frequency of uptake they may pose a much greater risk than PS-MP. Our findings highlight the need for comparative studies on health effects of different environmentally relevant MP types.
More Papers Like This
Tire wear particles are more frequently ingested by bumblebee workers, transferred to brood, and incorporated into nesting material in comparison to polystyrene microplastics
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers compared the uptake and transfer of tire wear particles versus polystyrene microplastics in bumblebee colonies, finding that tire wear particles were significantly more frequently ingested by workers, transferred to larvae, and incorporated into nest materials, likely because bees fail to recognize them as foreign particles.
Tire wear particles are more frequently ingested by bumblebee workers, transferred to brood, and incorporated into nesting material in comparison to polystyrene microplastics
AI summary Read the abstract
Researchers compared the uptake and transfer of tire wear particles versus polystyrene microplastics in bumblebee colonies, finding that tire wear particles were significantly more frequently ingested by workers, transferred to larvae, and incorporated into nest materials, likely because bees fail to recognize them as foreign particles.
Trophic_Transfer_of_Microplastics_in_Social_Hymenoptera
AI summary Read the abstract
Scientists found that tiny plastic bits (microplastics) get passed from adult bumblebees to their babies through shared feeding, but ants have a natural filter in their mouths that blocks this transfer. This matters because it shows some pollinators, like bees, may be more vulnerable to plastic pollution's health effects across generations—and since bees pollinate much of our food supply, their decline from environmental pollutants like microplastics could indirectly affect human food systems too.
The fate of orally ingested microplastics during cooperative brood care in two social Hymenoptera species
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Researchers exposed carpenter ant and bumblebee colonies to polystyrene microplastics and tracked particle fate during cooperative brood care, finding that ants' infrabuccal pocket effectively filtered particles and prevented larval exposure, while bumblebee larvae ingested microplastics transferred directly from workers, suggesting colony-level MP risks differ markedly by species anatomy.
The Fate of Orally Ingested Microplastics During Cooperative Brood Care in Two Social Hymenoptera Species
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Scientists fed microplastic particles to ants and bumblebees to see how these tiny plastic bits move through colonies that share food and care for their young together. Ants had a built-in filter (a special mouth pocket) that trapped the plastic before it reached their larvae, but bumblebees had no such defense—meaning the plastic passed freely from adult bees to developing young. This matters because it shows some pollinator species may be far more vulnerable to microplastic pollution than others, which could affect bee populations that are crucial for pollinating the crops humans eat.
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.