Phone: 33 (0)1 69 15 68 26
PhD project
The aim of my thesis is to study the susceptibility of various forms of appetitive associative learning to different insecticides in the honeybee, Apis mellifera. I hypothesize that more complex cognitive tasks are more vulnerable to stressors such as insecticides. Cognition plays a crucial role in bee behavior, especially during foraging, where bees must learn a range of skills to optimize their efficiency. This includes recognizing nectar-rich flowers, locating them for return trips to the hive, and communicating the best foraging sites to other bees.
Flower recognition involves multiple sensory modalities, including sight, smell, and taste. My study, therefore, focuses on two key sensory modalities in foraging: olfaction and gustation. To investigate varying levels of learning complexity, I conducted four laboratory experiments using the proboscis extension reflex (PER): measuring sugar sensitivity, PER habituation, olfactory appetitive conditioning, and olfactory discrimination.
I chose to study three insecticide families to which bees are commonly exposed in field settings. These insecticides were selected based on their physiological targets, existing scientific literature on their effects on non-target species, and documented presence in hives.
Publications
- Fortuna TM, Colin-Duchevet L, Desreumaux Y, Jeannette R, Le Gonnidec M, Le Ru B, Mettauer R, Mougel F, Kaiser L (2024, in press) Non-target risk assessment of Cotesia typhae, a potential biological control agent of the Mediterranean corn borer. Biological Control https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocontrol.2024.105657
scientific communications:
- 2024 Oral communication – CNI (Gif-sur-Yvette, France)
- 2024 Poster presentation – SFECA (Albi, France)
- 2023 Poster presentation – 6th International Student Course in Behavioural Biology (Paris, France)
- 2023 Poster presentation – Neurofrance satellite meeting, (Lyon, France)
- 2023 Poster presentation – Goettingen meeting, German neurosciences society (Goettingen, Germany)
- 2022 Oral communication – JIDEEV (Gif-sur-Yvette, France)
Past experiences:
- Master 2, 6 months internship, EGCE, Gif-sur-Yvette, France (J.C. Sandoz, S. Floquet) : Study of the biological effects of molybdenum-based complexes on honeybees (Apis mellifera).
- Master 1, 4 months internship, EGCE, Gif-sur-Yvette, France (T. Marques-Fortuna, L. Kaiser-Arnauld) : Assessment of the risks associated with the introduction of the parasitoid wasp C. typhae as a biological control agent.