Pesticide Made of Spider Venom and Plant Protein is Safe for honeybees

Researchers have created a compound using spider venom and plant protein that kills pests, but not honeybees.

The study on the insect-specific Hv1a/GNA bio-pesticide was led by researchers at the Newcastle University. The team combined toxin from Australian funnel web spider venom and a protein from the snowdrop plant to create a bee-friendly pesticide, AFP reported.

Honeybees are key pollinators of several plants.  Use of neonicotinoid pesticides has led to decline in bee populations around the world, resulting in loss of several plant species. Chemicals in broad-range insecticides impair honeybees' learning and memory abilities, which is why scientists wanted to develop a chemical that would target only insects.

In the present study, researchers exposed bees to varying concentrations of the spider/snowdrop bio-pesticide for about a week. During the study, researchers tested bees' memory and learning behaviour.

Researchers found that the new bee-friendly pesticide doesn't interfere with honeybees' foraging activities.

"Our findings suggest that Hv1a/GNA is unlikely to cause any detrimental effects on honeybees," said Professor Angharad Gatehouse, who is based in Newcastle University's School of Biology and is one of the supervisors on the project. "Previous studies have already shown that it is safe for higher animals, which means it has real potential as a pesticide and offers us a safe alternative to some of those currently on the market."

Why doesn't the pesticide kill honeybees?
Researchers said that the spider/plant compound targets the calcium channels, while other pesticides often change the sodium ion channels, which are more common in insect populations.

"Although Hv1a/GNA was carried to the brain of the honeybee, it had no effect on the insect which suggests the highly selective spider-venom toxin does not interact with the calcium channels in the bee," said Erich Nakasu, a PhD student at Newcastle University, according to a news release.  

The study is published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. It was funded by Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, Defra, the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and others.