The Boxelder Bug

This factsheet describes the appearance, behavior, and control of the boxelder bug, a common pest around and occasionally on and in Maryland homes

Texas Law Review

Journal containing articles, notes, book reviews, and other analyses of law and legal cases

Texas Law Review

Journal containing articles, notes, book reviews, and other analyses of law and legal cases. The topics in this issue cover the need for a specialized musicology tribunal, Wal-Mart v. Dukes, party rulemaking, and injunctions

Neonicotinoid Insecticide Imidacloprid Causes Outbreaks of Spider Mites on Elm Trees in Urban Landscapes

BACKGROUND: Attempts to eradicate alien arthropods often require pesticide applications. An effort to remove an alien beetle from Central Park in New York City, USA, resulted in widespread treatments of trees with the neonicotinoid insecticide imidacloprid. Imidacloprid's systemic activity and mode of entry via roots or trunk injections reduce risk of environmental contamination and limit exposure of non-target organisms to pesticide residues. However, unexpected outbreaks of a formerly innocuous herbivore, Tetranychus schoenei (Acari: Tetranychidae), followed imidacloprid applications to elms in Central Park. This undesirable outcome necessitated an assessment of imidacloprid's impact on communities of arthropods, its effects on predators, and enhancement of the performance of T. schoenei. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: By sampling arthropods in elm canopies over three years in two locations, we document changes in the structure of communities following applications of imidacloprid. Differences in community structure were mostly attributable to increases in the abundance of T. schoenei on elms treated with imidacloprid. In laboratory experiments, predators of T. schoenei were poisoned through ingestion of prey exposed to imidacloprid. Imidacloprid's proclivity to elevate fecundity of T. schoenei also contributed to their elevated densities on treated elms. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This is the first study to report the effects of pesticide applications on the arthropod communities in urban landscapes and demonstrate that imidacloprid increases spider mite fecundity through a plant-mediated mechanism. Laboratory experiments provide evidence that imidacloprid debilitates insect predators of spider mites suggesting that relaxation of top-down regulation combined with enhanced reproduction promoted a non-target herbivore to pest status. With global commerce accelerating the incidence of arthropod invasions, prophylactic applications of pesticides play a major role in eradication attempts. Widespread use of neonicotinoid insecticides, however, can disrupt ecosystems tipping the ecological balance in favor of herbivores and creating pest outbreaks

Texas Law Review

Journal containing articles, notes, book reviews, and other analyses of law and legal cases. The topics of this issue cover sex discrimination, bankruptcy outcomes, forensic science, and the multiplication of indivisible injury

Texas Law Review

Journal containing articles, notes, book reviews, and other analyses of law and legal cases. Topics in this issue cover patent litigation, substantive review for procedural review of agency guidance documents, moral rights, and cybersecurity

Texas Law Review

Journal containing articles, notes, book reviews, and other analyses of law and legal cases

Texas Law Review

Journal containing articles, notes, book reviews, and other analyses of law and legal cases

Bagworms and Their Control

Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformis (Haworth) is a serious insect pest of many ornamental shrubs and trees in the eastern half of the United States. This publication outlines its appearance and habits, life cycle, and damage, and describes forms of mechanical, biological, and chemical control

Neonicotinoid Insecticides Alter Induced Defenses and Increase Susceptibility to Spider Mites in Distantly Related Crop Plants

Chemical suppression of arthropod herbivores is the most common approach to plant protection. Insecticides, however, can cause unintended, adverse consequences for non-target organisms. Previous studies focused on the effects of pesticides on target and non-target pests, predatory arthropods, and concomitant ecological disruptions. Little research, however, has focused on the direct effects of insecticides on plants. Here we demonstrate that applications of neonicotinoid insecticides, one of the most important insecticide classes worldwide, suppress expression of important plant defense genes, alter levels of phytohormones involved in plant defense, and decrease plant resistance to unsusceptible herbivores, spider mites Tetranychus urticae (Acari: Tetranychidae), in multiple, distantly related crop plants.Using cotton (Gossypium hirsutum), corn (Zea mays) and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants, we show that transcription of phenylalanine ammonia lyase, coenzyme A ligase, trypsin protease inhibitor and chitinase are suppressed and concentrations of the phytohormone OPDA and salicylic acid were altered by neonicotinoid insecticides. Consequently, the population growth of spider mites increased from 30% to over 100% on neonicotinoid-treated plants in the greenhouse and by nearly 200% in the field experiment.Our findings are important because applications of neonicotinoid insecticides have been associated with outbreaks of spider mites in several unrelated plant species. More importantly, this is the first study to document insecticide-mediated disruption of plant defenses and link it to increased population growth of a non-target herbivore. This study adds to growing evidence that bioactive agrochemicals can have unanticipated ecological effects and suggests that the direct effects of insecticides on plant defenses should be considered when the ecological costs of insecticides are evaluated