Toxicity of Firefly, Luciola lateralis(Coleoptera: Lampyridae) to Commercially Registered Insecticides and Fertilizers

Toxicity of clothianidin to common Eastern North American fireflies

“…[Elateridae] and Atheta coriaria [Staphylinidae]; ( Van Herk et al, 2007 ; Cloyd et al, 2009 )). The one other study which tested neonicotinoid toxicity to fireflies observed 13% survival of aquatic Luciola lateralis larvae after 24 h of exposure to 10 5 ng thiamethoxam mL −1 in water ( Lee et al, 2008 ); these results suggest that fireflies as a group may be somewhat tolerant to neonicotinoid exposure, although this is likely a tenuous conclusion because it is based on just two studies that represent less than 0.2% of all described firefly species ( Lewis et al, 2020 ). Tolerance to neonicotinoids may partly explain why populations of Pt.…”

“…The most commonly applied classes of insecticides (neonicotinoids, pyrethroids, and organophosphates) are broadly neurotoxic to most insect taxa ( Sparks, 2013 ), so fireflies are unlikely to be an exception. Indeed, full-strength organophosphate and neonicotinoid formulations are toxic to the aquatic firefly larvae Luciola cruciata and Luciola lateralis , respectively ( Tabaru et al, 1970 ; Lee et al, 2008 ). Unfortunately, there have been no studies assessing how terrestrial firefly larvae respond to residual concentrations of these insecticides in soil, a likely route of exposure.…”

“…These larvae inhabit forested, suburban, and agricultural soils, where neonicotinoid insecticides are often applied directly, or via coatings on crop seeds, to protect against pests ( Knoepp et al, 2012 ; Douglas & Tooker, 2015 ; Simon-Delso et al, 2015 ). In these habitats, neonicotinoid concentrations in soil can range from less than 5 ng g −1 to over 4,000 ng g −1 ( Knoepp et al, 2012 ; Schaafsma et al, 2015 ; Pearsons et al, 2021 ), concentrations that could plausibly influence behavior and survival of firefly larvae ( Lee et al, 2008 ). Some indirect evidence suggests that firefly larvae are susceptible to neonicotinoids because adult lampyrid densities have been found to be lower where neonicotinoid-coated seeds were planted ( Disque et al, 2019 ); however, to our knowledge, there have been no direct evaluations of how terrestrial firefly larvae respond to neonicotinoid-treated soil.…”

Illuminating Firefly Diversity: Trends, Threats and Conservation Strategies

“…Only a handful of laboratory studies have directly examined pesticide toxicity to fireflies, but these results suggest that chronic exposure to commonly used insecticides can harm fireflies through lethal and sublethal impacts on multiple life stages. Toxicity of several common insecticides (including the neonicotinoid thiamethoxam; the organophosphates acephate, fenthion and diazinon; and others) was tested on the eggs, adults and aquatic larvae of an Asian firefly, Aquatica lateralis [59]; full-strength formulations were lethal to these aquatic larvae as well as to adults and also reduced hatching success of eggs. Laboratory studies were recently conducted on the toxicity of the neonicotinoid clothianidin to the larvae of two widely distributed and common North American fireflies, Photuris versicolor complex and Photinus pyralis [60].…”