ArticleScientific reports2020
Larval pesticide exposure impacts monarch butterfly performance.
Article in Scientific reports, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 46 citations in OpenAlex.
- Toxicological effects of a difenoconazole fungicide on a non-target butterfly.Ecotoxicology (London, England) · 2026Article
- Article
- Exposure route mediates toxicological effects of sulphur and fluxapyroxad fungicides in a non-target butterfly.PloS one · 2026Article
- Neonicotinoid Insecticides can Enhance Milkweed Vigor and Subsequently Impact Monarch Performance.Journal of chemical ecology · 2025Article
- Exposure of insects to current use pesticide residues in soil and vegetation along spatial and temporal distribution in agricultural sites.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Hormetic response to pesticides in diapausing bees.Biology letters · 2025Article
- A pollinator crisis can decrease plant abundance despite pollinators being herbivores at the larval stage.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Review
- Divergent impacts of the neonicotinoid insecticide, clothianidin, on flight performance metrics in two species of migratory butterflies.Conservation physiology · 2024Article
- Article
- Additive and interactive effects of anthropogenic stressors on an insect herbivore.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2023Article
- Monarch Butterfly Ecology, Behavior, and Vulnerabilities in North Central United States Agricultural Landscapes.Bioscience · 2022Review
- Pollinator biological traits and ecological interactions mediate the impacts of mosquito-targeting malathion application.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Past insecticide exposure reduces bee reproduction and population growth rate.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2021Article
- Article
- Butterfly Conservation in China: From Science to Action.Insects · 2020Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The long-term decline of monarch butterflies has been attributed to loss of their milkweed (Asclepias sp.) host-plants after the introduction of herbicide-tolerant crops. However, recent studies report pesticide residues on milkweed leaves that could act as a contributing factor when ingested as part of their larval diet. In this study, we exposed monarch larvae to six pesticides (insecticide: clothianidin; herbicides: atrazine, S-metolachlor; fungicides: azoxystrobin, pyraclostrobin, trifloxystrobin) on their primary host-plant, A. syriaca. Each was tested at mean and maximum levels reported from published analyses of milkweeds bordering cropland and thus represent field-relevant concentrations. Monarch lethal and sub-lethal responses were tracked over their complete development, from early instar larvae to adult death. Overall, we found no impact of any pesticide on immature development time and relatively weak effects on larval herbivory or survival to adulthood. Comparatively stronger effects were detected for adult performance; namely, a 12.5% reduction in wing length in response to the fungicides azoxystrobin and trifloxystrobin. These data collectively suggest that monarch responses to host-plant pesticides are largely sublethal and more pronounced in the adult stage, despite exposure only as larvae. This outcome has important implications for risk assessment and the migratory success of monarchs in North America.
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