Insects can be exposed to insecticides through various routes , let in a plant ’s pollen and ambrosia . For the first metre ever , Ph.D. researcher Miguel Calvo Agudo retrieve that honeydew is also a route of picture to insecticide , which can be harmful to beneficial worm . For these finding , Calvo Agudo will receive the Hugo de Vries Award for the proficient Ph.D. dissertation defended at a Dutch university in 2021 in botany - related scientific discipline .
Honeydew is a sugar - copious liquid that can be found almost everywhere in farming lands . It is excreted by various insects , including mealybug , aphids , and whiteflies . good insects such as pollinator and biological control agents of plague feed on honeydew when nectar is scarce , which is very common . When feeding on honeydew melon , they can be exposed to insecticides , Calvo Agudo ’s research display . The impression can be lethal . The beneficial insects studied by Calvo Agudo were specially affected by exposure to thiamethoxam , which belongs to the neonicotinoid group of insecticides .
Feeding honeydewAs part of his PhD , Calvo Agudo lead test in Spain , the Netherlands , and the United States . He applied insecticides to works via the soil or through the canopy and collected the honeydew melon excreted by insects that had been feeding on these industrial plant . He then launch the honeydew melon to beneficial insects such as parasitic wasp to appraise the core . The fatality rate among these insects turn out to be very high . Most of the hoverflies , which usually have a life-time of around 15 - 20 days , go within three days after feeding on the contaminated honeydew . one-half of the parasitic wasps also die within three day .
Afterwards , Calvo Agudo used semen coated with neonicotinoids , which is the lead delivery method of neonicotinoids in major crops such as soybean , wheat , cotton , and lemon . He demonstrated that the honeydew melon producer survived the chemical substance intervention and pass honeydew that contained satisfying concentration of neonicotinoids even one month after the crop was inseminate . take this honeydew melt off the seniority of the beneficial insects tested .
Miguel Calvo Agudo hoard honeydew from soybean fields in Minnesota
Calvo Agudo ’s survey is the first of its form : honeydew melon had not yet been set up as a path of exposure to insect powder . His findings suggest that environmental risk assessments should view honeydew as an important itinerary . For that reasonableness , he opened his investigation to different inquiry institutes and environmental protective cover agency that can evaluate it and compare it with the other ways in which good insects can be exposed to insecticides . He measure all the insecticides , pests , and crops relevant to honeydew as a route of exposure . grant to Calvo Agudo , his subject emphasize the need for changes in agriculture , which should bank less heavily on pesticides and fertiliser . He also urges citizens to be more concerned : ‘ consumer need to buy perfect fruit and vegetables . But gross crops hail with Brobdingnagian amount of insect powder . ’
Thesis awardCalvo Agudo ’s PhD project was supervise by Marcel Dicke , entomologist at Wageningen University & Research , and Alejandro Tena , investigator at the Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias ( IVIA ) . Dicke was impressed by his work : ‘ Miguel ’s research exhibit how commonly used systemic insecticide have important side personal effects on beneficial insects , even when they are used as seed coat . This field again shows the necessity of developing pesticide - free harvest method acting , for which there are excellent opportunities . The Netherlands and Spain have a good repute in this regard . ’
For more information : Wageningen University & Researchwww.wur.nl
