Insecticides

Butterflies Are Vanishing Around the World

You do not need to be a naturalist to love butterflies. Dolly Parton sings about them. So does Miley Cyrus. Tracy Morgan says he used to be an angry young man in a cocoon, but “now I’m a beautiful black butterfly.” And the poet Robert Frost once celebrated the “blue-butterfly” days of spring. But hold the lyrics. The butterflies are vanishing, according to an article in this week’s edition of the journal Science, and it’s happening even in protected areas.

Neonicotinoids were found to contaminate conservation strips meant to conserve pollinators

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 honey bees assessed. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) quantified clothianidin in leaf, nectar, honey, and bee bread at organic and seed-treated farms.

Chronic exposure to imidacloprid may lead to infertility problems

This study was undertaken to explore relationships between level of imidacloprid in the serum and semen quality among men farmers in addition to investigating histopathological findings in treated mature male rats. Our research entailed two parts; firstly, human part done on farm workers (n=35) with age between (Mean ± SD 34.3±6.4) and healthy volunteers (n=25) their ages were (35.6±8.2) years old asked to provide semen and blood samples.

Butterflies that once numbered in the millions have virtually disappeared from Upper Midwest prairies

Erik Runquist saw it for a moment, then it was gone. Walking a tract of Nature Conservancy-owned prairie outside Moorhead, Runquist caught a glimpse of a Dakota skipper, a thumbnail-sized, orange and brown butterfly. It perched atop a coneflower before disappearing into the prairie grass. "Skippers are evasive. You may get only a few seconds to be able to find it before it zips off the coneflower, especially if it's a windy day," said Runquist, the Minnesota Zoo's butterfly conservation biologist. "Once they get in flight, it's almost impossible to find them again.

Study shows Monarch butterfly population on Californian coast decreased by 74 percent over last two decades

A new study by the Xerces Society showed a 74 percent decrease in the number of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) over the last two decades. Butterfly conservationists at the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History monitor the monarch numbers on the Monterey Peninsula and said the study's results come as no surprise. They are similar to a trend conservationists are seeing locally. Their numbers are going down," museum representative Patrick Whitehurst said. Whitehurst said that between 2014 and 2015, the monarch population at Pacific Grove's sanctuary was cut in half.

Immer weniger Schwalben in Dormagen

Willi Schmidtsiefen ist Naturliebhaber und engagiert sich als ehrenamtlicher Helfer in der Biologischen Station in Knechtsteden. Schmidtsiefen machte unsere Redaktion auf zwei Schwalbennester unter dem schützenden Dach des Einkaufswagenunterstandes am Rewe-Supermarkt in Delhoven aufmerksam. Mindestens ein Schwalbenpaar habe dort gebrütet, berichtete Schmidtsiefen - und verband seine Beobachtung gleich mit einer Frage: "Ob das wohl ein Hoffnungsschimmer ist?" Denn der Vogelfreund beobachtet einen starken Rückgang der Tiere in Dormagen.

Gebruik imidacloprid zonder zuiveringsinstallatie verboden

Het College voor de toelating van gewasbeschermingsmiddelen en biociden (Ctgb) wil gewasbeschermingsmiddelen met imidacloprid in de bedekte teelt tijdelijk verbieden. Het gebruik, aanschaffen of op voorraad hebben van imidacloprid is dan verboden, tenzij het bedrijf kan aantonen dat het een gecertificeerde zuiveringsinstallatie gebruikt. Dit voorlopige besluit van het Ctgb en de onderliggende rapporten zijn woensdag 6 juli 2016 door staatssecretaris Van Dam van Economische Zaken aan de Tweede Kamer gestuurd.

Pesticide may be reason butterfly numbers are falling in UK, says study

Neonicotinoids may be contributing towards the disappearance of butterflies from the countryside, according to the first scientific study to examine the effect of the controversial agricultural pesticides on British butterflies. Researchers found that 15 of 17 species which commonly live on farmland – including the small tortoiseshell, small skipper and wall butterfly – show declines associated with increasing neonic use.

Pesticide blamed for huge drop in frog numbers along Queensland coast

The head of Australia’s only dedicated frog hospital believes powerful insecticides are behind a staggering decline in frog populations along the Queensland coast. But Deborah Pergolotti, of the Cairns Frog Safe project, has struggled to drum up government and academic interest in researching the bizarre malformations she has documented in amphibians. “The first domino in the sequence is chemicals,” she says, specifically neonicotinoids.