Four Neurotoxic Insecticides Impair Partner and Host Finding in the Parasitoid Leptopilina heterotoma and Bioactive Doses Can Be Taken up Via the Host.

ABSTRACT: In modern agriculture, control of insect pests is achieved by using insecticides that can also have lethal and sublethal effects on beneficial non-target organisms. Here, we investigate acute toxicity and sublethal effects of four insecticides on the males' sex pheromone response and the female host finding ability of the Drosophila parasitoid Leptopilina heterotoma. The nicotinic acetylcholine receptor antagonists acetamiprid, flupyradifurone and sulfoxaflor, as well as the acetylcholinesterase inhibitor dimethoate were applied topically as acetone solutions. Males treated with all four insecticides no longer preferred the female sex pheromone in a T-olfactometer. Duration of wing fanning, an element of the pheromone-mediated male courtship behavior, was also reduced by all four insectici

SUBMITTER: Schofer N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11779754 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature