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Oral Presentation
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Student Regular Poster Display

Physiology, Biochemistry, and Toxicology

Student

Student Regular Poster: PBT and SysEB, General

Non-target burying beetles exhibit differential gene expression in response to imidacloprid and bifenthrin

Tuesday, November 11, 2025
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM Pacific
Location: Exhibit Hall A-A1, OCC
Poster Display
Insecticides imidacloprid (a neonicotinoid) and bifenthrin (a pyrethroid) are widely used in agriculture. There have been limited studies looking at the response of non-target soil-dwelling beetles such as burying beetles, Nicrophorus spp. to these insecticides. At non-lethal doses, burying beetles show impairment for approximately 24 hours and then seemingly recover. We quantified gene expression of the federally threatened American burying beetle (Nicrophorus americanus) when exposed to soil with low doses of imidacloprid or bifenthrin. We found that N. americanus exposed to imidacloprid up-regulated 276 genes and down-regulated 711 genes. Beetles exposed to bifenthrin up-regulated 162 genes and down-regulated 527 genes. These findings provide valuable insight into the genes used by N. americanus to overcome the effects of being exposed to different classes of insecticides and may explain detoxification mechanisms.