Why Short-Term Bioassays Are Not Meaningful—Effects of a Pesticide (Imidacloprid) and a Metal (Cadmium) on Pea Aphids (Acyrthosiphon pisum Harris)

Abstract

The life-table study on effects of a heavy metal, Cd (100 and 200 mg kg⁻¹ soil), and an insecticide, imidacloprid (4 and 40 g a.i. ha⁻¹), on pea aphids revealed significant effects of both chemicals on life history traits and population dynamics. Substantial differences in the action of the two chemicals and between the two doses of imidacloprid were observed. The pesticide caused high mortality at the beginning of the experiment, however some aphids were able to live for as long as control insects. In contrast, Cd-induced mortality was low at the beginning but increased during the experiment. Analysis of data collected during the first 10 days of the experiment, the first 20 days, or for the whole life-time of the cohort gave different results. While highly significant effects of imidacloprid were detected already after 10 days of the experiment, Cd treatment resulted in no effect for this time of exposure. Higher dose of imidacloprid decreased growth and development rates along with delayed reproduction (9th or 10th day). In contrast, the aphids treated with the low dose of imidacloprid and with both concentrations of Cd started their reproduction at the same day as untreated insects (6th or 7th day), but the reproduction tended to cease earlier. This indicates that too short ecotoxicological tests may result in serious underestimation of some effects, while overestimating others.