Harlequin bug, Murgantia histrionica (Hahn), is a pest of cole crops in the USA. Laboratory toxicity assays revealed that the neonicotinoid insecticides imidacloprid, thiamethoxam, dinotefuran, and clothianidin are toxic to harlequin bug nymphs; LC50 = 0.57, 0.52, 0.39, and 0.39 ppm, respectively. Field experiments were conducted to evaluate the efficacy of these insecticides over time when app...

Seed-based pest management tools, such as transgenes and seed treatments, are emerging as viable alternatives to conventional insecticide applications in numerous crops, and often occur as coupled technologies. Seed-based technologies have been readily adopted in maize, for which ecological studies are needed to examine effects to farmland biodiversity. We compared the response of nontarget col...

There is widespread concern regarding the effects of agro-chemical exposure on bee health, of which neonicotinoids, systemic insecticides detected in the pollen and nectar of both crops and wildflowers, have been the most strongly debated. The majority of studies examining the effect of neonicotinoids on bees have focussed on social species, namely honey bees and bumble bees. However, most bee ...

There has been recent interest in the threat to bees posed by the use of systemic insecticides. One concern is that systemic insecticides may translocate from the soil into pollen and nectar of plants, where they would be ingested by pollinators. This paper reports on the movement of two such systemic neonicotinoid insecticides, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam, into the pollen and nectar of flowe...

Acetylcholine (ACh) is probably the oldest signalling neurotransmitter which appeared in evolution before the nervous system. It is present in bacteria, algae, protozoa and plants. In insects and mammals it is involved in cell-to-cell communications in various neuronal and non-neuronal tissues. The discovery of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) as the main receptors involved in rapid c...

Worldwide pollinator declines are attributed to a number of factors, including pesticide exposures. Neonicotinoid insecticides specifically have been detected in surface waters, non-target vegetation, and bee products, but the risks posed by environmental exposures are still not well understood. Pollinator strips were tested for clothianidin contamination in plant tissues, and the risks to hone...

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) based on a monoclonal antibody (MoAb) was developed for the neonicotinoid insecticide clothianidin. A new clothianidin hapten (3-[5-(3-methyl-2-nitroguanidinomethyl)-1,3-thiazol-2-ylthio] propionic acid) was synthesized and conjugated to keyhole limpet hemocyanin, and was used for monoclonal antibody preparation. The resulting MoAb CTN-16A3-13 was chara...