Insect predators are seldom considered during toxicological trophic assessments for insecticide product development. As a result, the ecological impact of novel insecticides on predators is not well understood, especially via the food chain, i.e., when their prey is exposed to insecticides. Neonicotinoids are systemic insecticides widely used in agriculture to control herbivorous insects, but their effects on predatory insects via the food chain have not been well characterized. In this study, we documented the time-course effects of the neonicotinoid thiamethoxam on the survival of two predators, the insidiosus flower bug Orius insidiosus (Say) and the convergent lady beetle Hippodamia convergens Guérin-Méneville, when preying upon the aphids Aphis glycines Matsumura (Hemiptera: Aphididae), Aphis gossypii Glover (Hemiptera: Aphididae), and Myzus persicae (Sulzer) (Hemiptera: Aphididae). Aphids were exposed to thiamethoxam-treated or untreated plants every week over the course of 5 wk. After transferring aphids to Petri dishes, predators were allowed to feed on aphids. We found that the survival of the insidiosus flower bug, but not the convergent lady beetle, was reduced after consuming aphids reared on thiamethoxam-treated plants compared to untreated plants. Survival reduction of the insidiosus flower bug was observed only during the first weeks after thiamethoxam application; no reduction occurred 28 d after treatment or beyond. These results demonstrate that a systemic application of thiamethoxam could be compatible with convergent lady beetles and insidiosus flower bugs, if the time of predator release does not coincide with thiamethoxam activity. These findings are critical for the development of future pest control programs that integrate biological and chemical control.

中文翻译：

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当通过食物链暴露时，噻虫嗪对通体捕食者Orius insidiosus（半翅目：Anthocoridae）和Hippodamia convergens（鞘翅目：Coccinellidae）的存活产生不同影响。

在进行杀虫剂产品开发的毒理学营养评估时，很少考虑使用昆虫天敌。结果，人们对新的杀虫剂对捕食者的生态影响知之甚少，尤其是通过食物链，即当它们的猎物暴露于杀虫剂时。新烟碱是在农业中广泛用于控制草食性昆虫的内吸性杀虫剂，但其通过食物链对捕食性昆虫的作用尚未得到很好的表征。在这项研究中，我们记录两个天敌的生存，新烟碱类噻虫嗪的时程影响，insidiosus花虫小花insidiosus（说）和收敛瓢虫Hippodamia convergens卡介苗，Méneville，在蚜虫捕食时，大豆蚜虫松村（Hemiptera：蚜虫），Aphis gossypii Glover（Hemiptera：蚜虫）和Myzus persicae（苏尔寿）（半翅目：蚜科）。在5周内，每周将蚜虫暴露于噻虫嗪处理或未处理的植物中。将蚜虫转移到陪替氏培养皿中后，允许捕食者以蚜虫为食。我们发现，与未经处理的植物相比，食用噻虫嗪处理过的植物上养育的蚜虫后，其昆虫的存活（但不是会聚的瓢虫）的存活率降低了。仅在使用噻虫嗪后的最初几周内观察到了剑兰花虫的存活期减少。治疗后28 d或更长时间未见减少。这些结果表明，如果掠食者释放的时间与噻虫嗪活性不一致，则系统性应用噻虫嗪可能与会聚的瓢虫和小花虫兼容。