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20 August 2020 Low Doses of a Neonicotinoid Stimulate Reproduction in a Beneficial Predatory Insect
R. R. Rix, G. C. Cutler
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Abstract

Biological stimulation induced by low doses of toxicants or other stressors is known as hormesis. Hormetic stimulation of life history traits in insect pests can negatively impact agriculture, but stimulation of beneficial insects could be leveraged to enhance biological control agents. We examined whether low doses of imidacloprid could enhance oviposition, fecundity, fertility, and survival in the beneficial stink bug predator, Podisus maculiventris (Say) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), exposed at different life stages and across two generations. When treated as young adults, P. maculiventris fecundity was stimulated at 0.5 and 1.0 mg/liter imidacloprid (<2% of the field rate) without changes in time to oviposition, fertility, and survival. Nymphs exposed to 0.015 mg/liter imidacloprid (<1% of the field rate) also had stimulated reproduction without effects on oviposition, fertility, and survival, but treatment of nymphs at 0.15 and 1.5 mg/liter imidacloprid stimulated fecundity at the expense of fertility and survival. In another experiment we found reproductive stimulation can occur trans-generationally without major reduction in fertility or survival. Our results suggest biocontrol producers may be able to strategically apply low doses of stress to natural enemies during culturing without compromising fitness in subsequent generations.

© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
R. R. Rix and G. C. Cutler "Low Doses of a Neonicotinoid Stimulate Reproduction in a Beneficial Predatory Insect," Journal of Economic Entomology 113(5), 2179-2186, (20 August 2020). https://doi.org/10.1093/jee/toaa169
Received: 6 May 2020; Accepted: 6 July 2020; Published: 20 August 2020
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KEYWORDS
biological control
fitness
hormesis
neonicotinoid
Podisus
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