Does Neem trigger the same response as Ivermectin? Dung beetle behaviour and physiology

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1 Departamento de Entomologia, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Lavras, Minas Gerais, Brasil
2 Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Alegre, Espirito Santo, Brasil
3 Departamento de Psicologia Experimental, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brasil
4 Departamento de Exatas e Ciências da Terra, Universidade Estadual de Minas Gerais, Frutal, Minas Gerais, Brasil
5 Universidade Federal de São João del-Rei, São João del-Rei, Minas Gerais, Brasil
6 Laboratório de Ecologia Evolutiva e Biodiversidade, Departamento de Biologia Geral, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brasil
7 Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Lavras, Minas Gerais, Brasil
DOI
10.7287/peerj.preprints.26770v1
Published
Accepted
Subject Areas
Agricultural Science, Animal Behavior, Conservation Biology, Entomology, Veterinary Medicine
Keywords
Pesticides Livestock, Ecological functions, Physiological stress, Fat storage
Copyright
© 2018 Souza et al.
Licence
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ Preprints) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
Cite this article
Souza A, Ferreira-Châline R, Châline N, Korasaki V, Beiroz W, Louzada J. 2018. Does Neem trigger the same response as Ivermectin? Dung beetle behaviour and physiology. PeerJ Preprints 6:e26770v1

Abstract

Potential negative effects of the synthetic veterinary pharmaceutical, Ivermectin, on non-target fauna have generated a search for less-toxic alternatives. Thus, Neem plant extract (Azadirachta indica A. Juss) has been used as a natural alternative to replace Ivermectin worldwide. However, little is known about the effects of this natural veterinary pharmaceutical’s residues on the behaviour and physiology of adult dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae), which use livestock dung as a feeding and nesting resource. To understand such effects, we performed a non-choice experiment using Dichotomius nisus Oliver, 1798. We evaluated effects of Neem and Ivermectin residues on the ecological functions of dung burial and soil bioturbation performed by dung beetles. Additionally, we performed Soxhlet extraction of dung beetle body fat content to evaluate physiological stress in response to ingestion of Ivermectin or Neem. Our results showed that D. nisus do not alter their behaviour in the presence of Neem and Ivermectin residues in dung when contrasted with the control after 48 hours. However, individuals feeding on dung with Ivermectin residues for a period of twenty days had 5% more body fat content than those from control and Neem treatments. Our findings provide the first evidence that Neem can be a less toxic alternative to non-target fauna than Ivermectin.

Author Comment

This is a submission to PeerJ for review.

Supplemental Information

Body fat dataset

To determine the body fat content, we use the following formula: (1- (initial weight– weight of the fat extracted)/ initial weight)).

DOI: 10.7287/peerj.preprints.26770v1/supp-1

Ecological functions performed by D. nisus

Soil bioturbation and dung burial of each treatment (Control, Ivermectin and Neem).

DOI: 10.7287/peerj.preprints.26770v1/supp-2