Abstract
Green June beetles are a cosmopolitan pest in the United States. Adults are voracious consumers of tree and vine fruit, while their larvae can damage and inadvertently consume root systems, particularly those of grasses, as they move through the soil and forage for detritus. Larvae ingest and process large volumes of soil while in the process of feeding. Due to their intimate contact with the soil, it was hypothesized that soil contaminants that are known animal toxins would perturb the larval and affect their overall health and survival. Studies of this kind are important contributions to the development of new model organisms and our understanding of interactions between the environment, contaminants, gut microbiome, and animal development, health, and survival. It is important to continue to develop relevant model organisms for monitoring toxicity as regulations for working with vertebrates becomes more prohibitive. In this study, the green June beetle larvae were exposed to the explosive RDX (royal demolition explosive; 1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5,-triazacyclohexane) and phenanthrene throughout their entire soil bound development, starting within the first few days of hatching through to their emergence as adults. The overall findings included that even at high concentrations, RDX and phenanthrene (25 ppm) exerted no significant effect on body weight or survival. Also, there was little apparent effect of RDX and phenanthrene on the bacterial microbiome, and no statistical association with measurable health effects. Nevertheless, the green June beetle is an interesting model for soil toxicity experiments in the future as they are easy to collect, house, and handle.
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Acknowledgements
This research was funded through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Environmental Quality Program. Views, opinions and/or findings contained herein are those of the authors and should not be construed as an Official Department of the Army position or decision unless so designated by other official documentation. The authors would like to thank Donn T. Johnson and Lizbeth R. Herrera (University of Arkansas) for trapping adult beetles for the initiation of this study and for scientific advice. The authors would also like to thank Richard Lance, Denise Lindsay, Kayla Clark, and Karl Indest for reviewing the manuscript and providing scientific advice and field/laboratory assistance.
Funding
This research was funded through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Environmental Quality Program. Views, opinions, and/or findings contained herein are those of the authors and should not be construed as an Official Department of the Army position or decision unless so designated by other official documentation.
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Jung, C.M., Carr, M., Fleischman, E. et al. Response of the green June beetle and its gut microbiome to RDX and phenanthrene. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 18, 1785–1792 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-020-02960-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-020-02960-1