A pesticide based on toxins from spider venom seems to be safe for honeybees, an important crop pollinator. The pesticide could potentially replace other insecticides that have been banned recently because of their harmful effects on bees.

Angharad Gatehouse at Newcastle University, UK, and her colleagues fed or injected honeybees (Apis mellifera) with a biopesticide consisting of a spider toxin linked to a carrier protein. The researchers found that the chemical had little or no effect on mortality, learning and memory.

In larvae, the toxin was broken down in the gut, whereas in adults, it made its way to the brain. The lack of effects is probably because the compound does not block calcium channels in bee brain cells as it does in other insects, the authors say.

Proc. R. Soc. B 281, 20140619 (2014)