Species discrimination rate of all single fragments and their combinations based on the tree-building method.

(H: trnH-psbA; K: matK; L: rbcL; I: ITS).</p

Summary of complete plastid genomes obtained for the five original species of Fritillariae cirrhosae bulbus and three species of its adulterants, as well as the outgroup (<i>F</i>. <i>anhuiensis</i>).

Summary of complete plastid genomes obtained for the five original species of Fritillariae cirrhosae bulbus and three species of its adulterants, as well as the outgroup (F. anhuiensis).</p

Comparison of the abilities of universal, super, and specific DNA barcodes to discriminate among the original species of Fritillariae cirrhosae bulbus and its adulterants - Fig 5

Neighbor-joining (NJ) tree of 33 specimens of Fritillaria, comprising 32 individuals of Fritillariae cirrhosae bulbus and its adulterants based on p-distances calculated for each barcode region: a. whole plastid genome; b. ycf1; c. matK; d. ITS2.</p

Analysis of the variability in different fragments and combination of fragments.

Analysis of the variability in different fragments and combination of fragments.</p

Histograms of the frequencies (y-axes) of pairwise inter- and intraspecific divergences calculated based on the p-distances (x-axes) of each single regions and their combinations.

(H: trnH-psbA; K: matK; L: rbcL; I: ITS).</p

Sliding window analysis of 32 <i>Fritillaria</i> plastid genomes (window length: 600 bp, step size: 200 bp).

X-axis: position of the midpoint of a window; Y-axis: nucleotide diversity of each window.</p

Genes included in <i>Fritillaria</i> plastid genomes.

Genes included in Fritillaria plastid genomes.</p

Distribution of the five original species of Fritillariae cirrhosae bulbus and three species of its adulterants.

The distributional range of each species is drawn based on the records by Luo et al. [8,9] and herbarium specimens (http://www.cvh.ac.cn/). The a-f refer to these species and their distribution. Photos of the eight Fritillaria species studied are also added: a. F. cirrhosa; b. F. przewalskii; c. F. taipaiensis; d. F. unibracteata; e. F. delavayi; f. F. thunbergii; g. F. pallidiflora; h. F. ussuriensis.</p

Traces of a Neonicotinoid Induce Precocious Foraging and Reduce Foraging Performance in Honey Bees

There is increasing worldwide concern about the impacts of pesticide residues on honey bees and bee colony survival, but how sublethal effects of pesticides on bees might cause colony failure remains highly controversial, with field data giving very mixed results. To explore how trace levels of the neonicotinoid pesticide imidacloprid impacted colony foraging performance, we equipped bees with RFID tags that allowed us to track their lifetime flight behavior. One group of bees was exposed to a trace concentration (5 μg/kg, ppb) of imidacloprid in sugar syrup while in the larval stage. The imidacloprid residues caused bees to start foraging when younger as adults and perform fewer orientation flights, and reduced their lifetime foraging flights by 28%. The magnitude of the effects of a trace imidacloprid concentration delivered only during larval stage highlights the severity of pesticide residues for bee foraging performance. Our data suggest that neonicotinoids could impact colony function by imbalancing the normal age based division of labor in a colony and reducing foraging efficiency. Understanding this mechanism will help the development of interventions to safeguard bee colony health

Traces of a Neonicotinoid Induce Precocious Foraging and Reduce Foraging Performance in Honey Bees

There is increasing worldwide concern about the impacts of pesticide residues on honey bees and bee colony survival, but how sublethal effects of pesticides on bees might cause colony failure remains highly controversial, with field data giving very mixed results. To explore how trace levels of the neonicotinoid pesticide imidacloprid impacted colony foraging performance, we equipped bees with RFID tags that allowed us to track their lifetime flight behavior. One group of bees was exposed to a trace concentration (5 μg/kg, ppb) of imidacloprid in sugar syrup while in the larval stage. The imidacloprid residues caused bees to start foraging when younger as adults and perform fewer orientation flights, and reduced their lifetime foraging flights by 28%. The magnitude of the effects of a trace imidacloprid concentration delivered only during larval stage highlights the severity of pesticide residues for bee foraging performance. Our data suggest that neonicotinoids could impact colony function by imbalancing the normal age based division of labor in a colony and reducing foraging efficiency. Understanding this mechanism will help the development of interventions to safeguard bee colony health