Faculty of Science, University of Hradec Králové, Hradec Králové, Czech Republic.
Research and Breeding Institute of Pomology Holovousy Ltd., 508 01, Holovousy 129, Czech Republic.
Sci Rep. 2023 Sep 9;13(1):14893. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-42129-7.
Ants are key ecosystem service providers and can serve as important biological control agents in pest management. However, the effects of insecticides on common farmland ant species are poorly understood. We tested the effects of three commonly used insecticides on ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). The tested insecticides were acetamiprid (neonicotinoid; formulated as Mospilan 20 SP), deltamethrin (pyrethroid; formulated as Sanium Ultra), and sulfoxaflor (sulfilimine; formulated as Gondola). We tested two ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) species with different colony founding strategies, Lasius niger (Linnaeus, 1758) and Myrmica rubra (Linnaeus, 1758). We sprayed their queens with insecticides at concentrations recommended for use in foliar applications in agriculture, i.e., at 1.25 g L (acetamiprid), 0.6 g L (sulfoxaflor), and 0.875 g L (deltamethrin). Further, we diluted the compounds in distilled water and tested them at 10%, 1%, and 0.1% of the field-recommended concentrations, and used distilled water as a control. We monitored the survival of the queens and the number of eggs laid. All three tested insecticides caused severe lethal and sublethal concentration-dependent effects. Even at concentrations three orders of magnitudes lower than recommended for field applications, significantly lower numbers of eggs were found in the queens' nests. The extent of the sublethal effects of acetamiprid and sulfoxaflor was concentration-dependent and differed between the two ant species. Besides bees and bumblebees, ants represent an important group of hymenopterans that are severely affected even by low concentrations of the tested compounds and therefore should be included in risk assessment schemes.
蚂蚁是关键的生态系统服务提供者，在害虫管理中可以作为重要的生物防治剂。然而，杀虫剂对常见农田蚂蚁物种的影响还知之甚少。我们测试了三种常用杀虫剂对蚂蚁（膜翅目，蚁科）的影响。测试的杀虫剂是噻虫胺（新烟碱类；制成 Mospilan 20 SP）、溴氰菊酯（拟除虫菊酯；制成 Sanium Ultra）和噻虫啉（砜亚胺类；制成 Gondola）。我们测试了两种具有不同殖民地建立策略的蚂蚁（膜翅目：蚁科）物种，黑褐林蚁（Linnaeus，1758）和红火蚁（Linnaeus，1758）。我们用杀虫剂喷洒它们的蚁后，浓度为农业叶用推荐使用浓度，即 1.25 g L（噻虫胺）、0.6 g L（噻虫啉）和 0.875 g L（溴氰菊酯）。此外，我们将化合物稀释在蒸馏水中，并在推荐田间浓度的 10%、1%和 0.1%下进行测试，以蒸馏水作为对照。我们监测了蚁后的存活情况和产卵数量。三种测试的杀虫剂都造成了严重的致死和亚致死浓度依赖性影响。即使在比田间应用推荐浓度低三个数量级的浓度下，蚁后巢中的卵数量也明显减少。噻虫胺和噻虫啉的亚致死效应的程度与浓度有关，且在两种蚂蚁物种之间存在差异。除了蜜蜂和熊蜂外，蚂蚁是膜翅目昆虫中一个重要的群体，即使是低浓度的测试化合物也会对其造成严重影响，因此应将其纳入风险评估计划。
