Effects of a formulation of the veterinary drug moxidectin on the performance of a plant-insect food chain
-treated plants laid about four times as many eggs as the control group. We suspect that the anthelmintic drug weakens the plants' defense mechanisms against herbivores such as aphids, thereby fostering their reproduction. These results indicate that the role of veterinary drugs in shaping plant-insect interactions should be addressed more explicitly in ecotoxicological studies and environmental risk assessments.
Authors
- Tim Diekötter
- Jitin Sabu
- Tobias W. Donath (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1874-1096)
- Lauren O. Greene
- Carsten Eichberg
- Andrés García
- Lilli Kuhtz
Institutions
- University of East Anglia (GB)
- Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel (DE)
- Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia (BR)
- University of Coimbra (PT)
- Universität Trier (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- The Science of The Total Environment
- Published
- 2026-04-21
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2026.181822
- Primary Topic
- Insect Utilization and Effects
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel