Penn Hannah J, Dale Andrew M
Department of Entomology, University of Kentucky, S225 Agricultural Science Building N, Lexington, KY, USA.
Pest Manag Sci. 2017 Aug;73(8):1625-1632. doi: 10.1002/ps.4499. Epub 2017 Jan 23.
Neonicotinoid seed treatments are under scrutiny because of their variable efficacy against crop pests and for their potential negative impacts on non-target organisms. Ants provide important biocontrol services in agroecosystems and can be indicators of ecosystem health. This study tested for effects of exposure to imidacloprid plus fungicide or fungicide-treated seeds on individual ant survival, locomotion and foraging capabilities and on field ant community structure, pest abundance, ant predation and yield.
Cohorts of ants exposed to either type of treated seed had impaired locomotion and a higher incidence of morbidity and mortality but no loss of foraging capacity. In the field, we saw no difference in ant species richness, regardless of seed treatment. Blocks with imidacloprid did have higher species evenness and diversity, probably owing to variable effects of the insecticide on different ant species, particularly Tetramorium caespitum. Ant predation on sentinel eggs, pest abundance and soybean growth and yield were similar in the two treatments.
Both seed treatments had lethal and sublethal effects on ant individuals, and the influence of imidacloprid seed coating in the field was manifested in altered ant community composition. Those effects, however, were not strong enough to affect egg predation, pest abundance or soybean yield in field blocks. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.
由于新烟碱类种子处理剂对作物害虫的防治效果参差不齐，且可能对非靶标生物产生负面影响，因此正受到密切关注。蚂蚁在农业生态系统中提供重要的生物防治服务，并且可以作为生态系统健康的指标。本研究测试了接触吡虫啉加杀菌剂或经杀菌剂处理的种子对单个蚂蚁的生存、运动和觅食能力以及田间蚂蚁群落结构、害虫数量、蚂蚁捕食和产量的影响。
接触任何一种处理过的种子的蚂蚁群体运动能力受损，发病率和死亡率更高，但觅食能力没有丧失。在田间，无论种子处理情况如何，我们都没有发现蚂蚁物种丰富度有差异。使用吡虫啉的地块物种均匀度和多样性更高，这可能是由于杀虫剂对不同蚂蚁物种，特别是纹腹蚁有不同影响。两种处理中，蚂蚁对哨兵卵的捕食、害虫数量以及大豆的生长和产量相似。
两种种子处理对蚂蚁个体都有致死和亚致死效应，吡虫啉种子包衣在田间的影响表现为蚂蚁群落组成的改变。然而，这些影响不足以影响田间地块中卵的捕食、害虫数量或大豆产量。©2016化学工业协会。
