The effects of sublethal and lethal doses of ivermectin on the reproductive physiology and larval development of the dung beetleEuoniticellus intermedius(Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)

Abstract This study assesses the effects of the veterinary medical product ivermectin (IVM) in a range of concentrations on adult reproductive physiology and larval mortality of the dung beetle Euoniticellus intermedius (Reiche) (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). The ecotoxicological tests comprised eight treatments, including two controls and six increasing ivermectina concentrations (3.16, 10.0, 31.6, 63.2, 100, and 316 µg IVM/kg fresh dung). After 10 days of exposure, the females were dissected and the brood balls counted (fecundity). The brood balls were opened 15 days later and live larvae were counted to estimate larval mortality. Ivermectin altered the morphology of the ovary and stopped vitellogenesis, causing oocyte resorption and thus decreasing fecundity. The 30% threshold of decline in fecundity was reached at 115.9 µg IVM/kg dung, with no observed effect concentration (NOEC) and lowest observed effect concentration (LOEC) values of 10.0 and 31.6 µg IVM/kg dung, respectively. Larval sensitivity to ivermectin was higher, with a lethal concentration required to kill 50% of the population of 85.9 μg IVM/kg dung, and NOEC and LOEC of 3.16 and 10.0 µg IVM/kg dung, respectively. After cattle were treated with ivermectin at the recommended dose, the ivermectin concentration in their dung during the two first weeks after administration far exceeded the thresholds determined for E. intermedius .