Chemical Control of Spiders and Scorpions in Urban Areas

First biochemical and behavioural analysis of the response of the scorpion Urophonius brachycentrus (Thorell: 1876) upon exposure to an organophosphate

“…Nowadays, chlorpyrifos seems to be a satisfactory option for controlling scorpions since the agent's effectiveness is similar to that of lindane (an organochlorine with a minimum lethal dose of 0.3 fmol/cm 2 at 48 h), but without causing any irritability (Darrow, 1977). In the present work, we first observed that with chlorpyrifos the scorpions recognise the impregnated surface and then move to areas without the insecticide, similar to what had been observed with pyrethroids (Ramires et al, 2011), although with no evidence of irritability or a subsequent behavioural alteration.…”

“…Although no methodology or specific product is currently available for the control of scorpions, the use of insecticides could be an effective tool depending on the circumstances (Ramires et al, 2011). The effort to find a scorpionicide dates from the year 1953, when the effect of different concentrations of malathion, dieldrin, lindane, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane and chlordane were evaluated on the North American scorpion species Centruroides vittatus (Say) (Scorpiones: Buthidae) (Busvine & Nash, 1953; Mcgregor & Flanigan, 1962; Ridgway et al, 1962).…”

“…At first, an insecticide can generate changes in the motor activity, paralysing the individual or making it lethargic and, therefore, more exposed to predators (Desneux et al, 2007). However, the dispersal of scorpions caused by insecticides seems to be more influential on the risk for humans than the toxicity (Albuquerque et al, 2013; Ramires et al, 2011). A dispersal response was observed for Tityus stigmurus (Thorell) (Scorpiones: Buthidae) after the application of the pyrethroid lambda–cyhalothrin as only 7% of the individuals were found dead (Albuquerque et al, 2009).…”

“…Although in 2019 the European Food Safety Authority expressed concerns regarding human health due to the possible genotoxicity and developmental neurotoxicity caused by the organophosphate pesticides (Food Safety News, 2019), and, despite a ban on those agents in certain European countries (Foong et al, 2020) and California (Huang et al, 2020), its use is of great importance in many other countries (Aktar et al, 2009; Degrendele et al, 2016; Sumon et al, 2018; Yadav et al, 2015). Indeed, organophosphates are pesticides widely used today in agriculture as well as in the control of scorpions (Albuquerque et al, 2009; Carvalho‐Neto, 1994; Dewer et al, 2016; Ding et al, 2019; Environmental Protection Agency, 1991; Kralj et al, 2007; Ramires et al, 2011; Shaffo et al, 2018), reaching up to 15% of the total insecticides on the market (Sparks & Nauen, 2015). In many instances, organophosphates also are used in combination with insecticides of different types (Feroz, 2020).…”