Influence of herbicides, insecticides and fungicides on food consumption and body weight of Rossiulus kessleri (Diplopoda, Julidae)
Influence of herbicides, insecticides and fungicides on food consumption and body weight of Rossiulus kessleri (Diplopoda, Julidae)

Summary/Abstract: Pesticides kill organisms harmful for the human organism, sometimes also harming beneficial ones. After treatment, pesticides remain on the soil surface in agrocenoses and adjacent plots for decades. For the laboratory experiment, we selected Rossiulus kessleri (Lochmander, 1927) – a species which lives 5–6 years on the soil surface and can dig in to soil to a depth of 30–40 cm. During a 20-day experiment we used herbicides (Roundup, Urahan Forte), insecticides (Omite, BI 58, Biotlin, Actellic, Nurelle D) and fungicides (Ridomil Gold, Thiovit Jet, Penncozeb 80 WP, Falcon, Tilt, Horus) which are often used in agrocenosises of Ukraine. Under the impact of Roundup and Urahan, body weight of R. kessleri reliably did not change, but food consumption and production of excrement increased. Pesticide-treated litter did not digest in the intestine of millipedes, but they survived to the end of the experiment (20 days). In the conditions of treating litter with insecticides Omite, BI 58, Biotlin, Actellic and Nurelle D, the amount of consumed food and body weight reliably did not change; most of these insecticides slowed the formation of feces in the millipedes. The highest studied concentrations of Actellic and Nurelle D preparations caused death to R. kessleri. Depending on the concentration in the litter, the studied fungicides Ridomil Gold, Thiovit Jet, Penncozeb, Falcon, Tilt, Horus had a varying effect on food consumption, body weight and the amount of excrement of R. kessleri. Thus, in agrocenoses and forest ecosystems adjacent to them (windbreaks, ravine and flood plain forests), R. kessleri can be significantly affected by the manufacturer-recommended doses of pesticides, as well as more than ten-fold lower doses.

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