Systemic Imidacloprid Affects Intraguild Parasitoids Differently

PLoS One. 2015 Dec 14;10(12):e0144598. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0144598. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

Toxoneuron nigriceps (Viereck) (Hymenoptera, Braconidae) and Campoletis sonorensis (Cameron) (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae) are solitary endoparasitoids of the tobacco budworm, Heliothis virescens (Fabricius) (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae). They provide biological control of H. virescens populations in Southeastern US agricultural production systems. Field and greenhouse experiments conducted from 2011-2014 compared parasitism rates of parasitoids that developed inside H. virescens larvae fed on tobacco plants treated with and without imidacloprid. The parasitoids in our study did not have a similar response. Toxoneuron nigriceps had reduced parasitism rates, but parasitism rates of C. sonorensis were unaffected. Preliminary data indicate that adult female lifespans of T. nigriceps are also reduced. ELISA was used to measure concentrations of neonicotinoids, imidacloprid and imidacloprid metabolites in H. virescens larvae that fed on imidacloprid-treated plants and in the parasitoids that fed on these larvae. Concentrations were detectable in the whole bodies of parasitized H. virescens larvae, T. nigriceps larvae and T. nigriceps adults, but not in C. sonorensis larvae and adults. These findings suggest that there are effects of imidacloprid on multiple trophic levels, and that insecticide use may differentially affect natural enemies with similar feeding niches.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Biological Control Agents
  • Biotransformation
  • Female
  • Hymenoptera / drug effects*
  • Hymenoptera / physiology
  • Imidazoles / metabolism*
  • Imidazoles / pharmacology
  • Insecticides / metabolism*
  • Insecticides / pharmacology
  • Larva / drug effects*
  • Larva / physiology
  • Lepidoptera / drug effects*
  • Lepidoptera / growth & development
  • Lepidoptera / parasitology
  • Longevity / drug effects
  • Neonicotinoids
  • Nicotiana / parasitology
  • Nitro Compounds / metabolism*
  • Nitro Compounds / pharmacology
  • Species Specificity

Substances

  • Biological Control Agents
  • Imidazoles
  • Insecticides
  • Neonicotinoids
  • Nitro Compounds
  • imidacloprid

Associated data

  • figshare/10.6084/M9.FIGSHARE.1610795

Grants and funding

This work was funded by a grant from the North Carolina Tobacco Research Commission to CES. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.