Systematic Review of the Effects of Chemical Insecticides on Four Common Butterfly Families
Open Access
- 26 June 2017
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Frontiers Media SA in Frontiers in Environmental Science
Abstract
Safeguarding crop productivity by protecting crops from pest attacks entails the wide use of plant protection products that provide a quick, easy and cheap solution. The objective of this study is to understand the effects of insecticides used in agriculture on non-target butterflies, specifically on the families Lycaenidae, Nymphalidae, Hesperiidae and Papilionidae. To achieve this goal, a formal systematic review was performed according to European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) guidelines, by entering a combination of keywords on 3 online databases. Three reviewers independently extracted information on study characteristics and quality. The main results were collected and grouped by the insecticide used, butterflies species and family, and endpoints. The output was valuable but heterogeneous as the endpoints and methodologies of the studies reviewed were different. Few experimental studies on the effects of insecticides on the most common butterfly families have been published. Naled and permethrin are the most commonly used insecticides in the experiments, whilst the target organisms of these studies are Vanessa cardui, Danaus plexippus, Heliconius charitonius, belonging to the Nymphalidae family, and Eumaeus atala, belonging to the Lycaenidae family; the effects were evaluated on all developmental stages, with special attention to the larval phase. This systematic review highlights the need for more studies on the effects of chemical insecticides on non-target Lepidoptera in light of their ecological importance and the extensive use of these chemical products.Keywords
Funding Information
- Università degli Studi di Palermo (2012-ATE-0322)
This publication has 19 references indexed in Scilit:
- The effects of agrochemicals on Lepidoptera, with a focus on moths, and their pollination service in field margin habitatsAgriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 2015
- Scientific Opinion addressing the state of the science on risk assessment of plant protection products for non‐target arthropodsEFSA Journal, 2015
- REVIEW: An overview of the environmental risks posed by neonicotinoid insecticidesJournal of Applied Ecology, 2013
- Risk assessment for adult butterflies exposed to the mosquito control pesticide naledEnvironmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 2012
- Use of butterflies as nontarget insect test species and the acute toxicity and hazard of mosquito control insecticidesEnvironmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 2011
- More than just indicators: A review of tropical butterfly ecology and conservationBiological Conservation, 2010
- Application of systematic review methodology to food and feed safety assessments to support decision makingEFSA Journal, 2010
- Impact of pesticides use in agriculture: their benefits and hazardsInterdisciplinary Toxicology, 2009
- Diet breadth and host plant diversity of tropical- vs. temperate-zone herbivores: South-East Asian and West Palaearctic butterflies as a case studyEcological Entomology, 1998
- Host‐plant relationships of lycaenid butterflies: large‐scale patterns, interactions with plant chemistry, and mutualism with antsEntomologia Experimentalis et Applicata, 1996