Exposure of the African mound building termite, Macrotermes bellicosus workers to commercially formulated 2,4-D and atrazine caused high mortality and impaired locomotor response.

ABSTRACT: Recent empirical evidence suggests that herbicides have damaging effects on non-target organisms in both natural and semi-natural ecosystems. The African mound building termite, Macrotermes bellicosus, is an important beneficial insect that functions as an ecosystem engineer due to its role in the breakdown of dead and decaying materials. Here, we examined the effects of 2,4-D amine salt (2,4-D) and atrazine based herbicides viz. Vestamine® and Ultrazine® on the survival and locomotion response of M. bellicosus. Worker termites were treated with a range of concentrations of Vestamine® (the recommended concentration: 6.25 ml per 500 ml of water, 0.25- and 0.5-fold below the recommended concentration and distilled water as control) and Ultrazine® (the recommended concentration: 3.75 ml per 5

SUBMITTER: Ejomah AJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7093002 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature