# Any concerns putting down Grubex and Spectracide on the same day?



## TheThirstyTurtle (May 3, 2019)

I've been noticing some gnats and small moths in my cool season, mostly KBGb5k sq ft lawn already. I'd like to put down a 10lb bag of Spectracide Triazicide that I got from Lowes to kill off the small insects as well as put down a bag of Scotts Grubex as a preventative against grubs later in the summer.

Any concerns with spreading both Spectracide and Grubex in the lawn on the same day? I wasn't sure if that would negatively impact the earthworms in my soil.

Thanks in advance!


----------



## tneicna (May 6, 2019)

Edward & Bohlen (1992) reported that earthworms are highly susceptible to pesticides such as insecticides, therefore they are considered as a model organism to evaluate the effects of insecticides. There are certain pesticide families that are considered as harmful to earthworms i.e. neonicotinoids, strobilurins, sulfonylureas, triazoles, carbamates and organophosphates (Pelosi et al., 2014). The pesticides affect mortality of earthworms by directly distressing them or by altering their physiology (Sabra & Mehana, 2015). Pesticides have a negative effect on the survival and reproduction of earthworms especially at higher concentration (>25mg/kg). Possible effects of pesticides and insecticides on earthworms in the soil are also depended on earthworm species, type of contaminant and its concentration, soil characteristics etc. (Roriguez-Campos et al., 2014).

The organization for economic cooperation and development (OECD) proposed Eisenia Fetida (Oligochaete) as a reference earthworm species for toxicity testing because it can easily be cultivated in the laboratory, mature in few weeks and has a high reproductive rate (OECD, 1984, 2004, 2015; ISO, 1993). The different insecticides classes had different toxic effects on Eisenia Fetida. Earthworm growth, reproduction (cocoon production, number of hatchlings per cocoon and incubation period) is also influenced by use of pesticide in a dose-dependent manner (Yasmin & D'Souza, 2010).

Earthwarms are generally needed for a healthy soil profile as they alter soil physical properties such as hydraulic conductivity, porosity, bulk density, infiltrability, aggregate stability etc. (Devkota et al., 2014).

Citations:

Edwards CA, Bohlen PJ. The effect of toxic chemicals on earthworms. Rev. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 1992;125:23-99. 
Edwards CA, Bohlen PJ. Biology and Ecology of Earthworms. 3rd edition. London: Chapman and Hall; 1996.
Pelosi C, Barot S, Capowiez Y, Hedde M, Vandenbulcke F. Pesticides and earthworms. A review. Agron. Sustain. Dev. 2014;34:199-228
Devkota D, Dhakal SC, Dhakal D, Dhakal DD, Ojha RB. Economics of Production and Marketing of Vermicompost in Chitwan, Nepal. Int J of Agri and Soil Sci. 2014;2(7):112-117
Sabra F.S, Mehana E.S. Pesticides Toxicity in Fish with Particular Reference to Insecticides
Rodriguez-Campos J, Dendooven L, Alvarez-Bernal D, Contreras-Ramos SM. Potential of earthworms to accelerate removal of organic contaminants from soil: A review. App Soil Ecol. 2014;79:10-25
Guidelines of testing of chemical No. 222 Earthworm Reproduction Test (Eisenia fetida/Eisenia andrei) Paris France: 2015. Drafted 12.06.2015
Yasmin S, D'Souza D. Effects of Pesticides on the Growth and Reproduction of Earthworm: A Review. Appl and Environ Soil Sci. 2010:1-9. 2010Article ID 678360


----------



## mjh648 (Sep 1, 2020)

tneicna said:


> There are certain pesticide families that are considered as harmful to earthworms i.e. neonicotinoids, strobilurins, sulfonylureas, triazoles, carbamates and organophosphates (Pelosi et al., 2014).


@tneicna Here are the charts I use to identify families and AI.

https://iwilltakeaction.com/uploads/files/58535-1-final-insecticide-classification-chart.pdf

https://iwilltakeaction.com/uploads/files/59783-final-2020fungicideclassificationchart.pdf

https://iwilltakeaction.com/uploads/files/2020-take-action-herbicide-classification-chart.pdf

Biggest mentioned -cides I see mentioned on this forum that are cited as harmful to earthworms are imidacloprid, azoxystrobin, Sedgehammer, propiconazole and thiophanate-methyl (Clearys). Did I identify these correctly? I knew about imidacloprid and thiophanate-methyl but seeing azoxystrobin and propiconazole means my whole fungicide rotation is bad for earthworms.

@TheThirstyTurtle Based on @tneicna post it appears as though those 2 products don't fall in the -cides that affect earthworms. If you are applying them at the rate they recommend I don't think putting them both down is an issue.


----------



## tneicna (May 6, 2019)

All pesticides appear to affect earthworms. The extent of harm is based on the type of product.

Chemical Companies use earthworms to perform LD50 of insecticides in general, it seems.


----------



## mjh648 (Sep 1, 2020)

I saw 2 studies that concluded that lambda cyhalothrin

Appears as though Lambda Cyhalothrin's "Adverse effects on
earthworms are implausible. " (https://www.fs.fed.us/foresthealth/pesticide/pdfs/052-21-03a_Lambda-Cyhalothrin.pdf pp95)

Also, "We conclude that the insecticides [one being lambda cyhalothrin] registered in Canada for soybean aphid control should not affect earthworms when
applied according to the label recommendations" (https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/pdf/10.4141/cjss2011-094 pp7)


----------



## tneicna (May 6, 2019)

mjh648 said:


> I saw 2 studies that concluded that lambda cyhalothrin
> 
> Appears as though Lambda Cyhalothrin's "Adverse effects on
> earthworms are implausible. " (https://www.fs.fed.us/foresthealth/pesticide/pdfs/052-21-03a_Lambda-Cyhalothrin.pdf pp95)
> ...


It's possible that earthworms (there's 8,000 species of them) have different LD50 et al depending on the species =/= chemical.

According to "Combined toxicity of imidacloprid and three insecticides to the earthworm, Eisenia fetida (Annelida, Oligochaeta)" Tang et al (2017), [they] state the following:

'_In the present study, we aimed to compare the individual and combined toxic effects of imidacloprid and three insecticides (phoxim, chlorpyrifos, and lambda-cyhalothrin) on E. fetida. *We showed that imidacloprid had the highest intrinsic toxicity to the worms in filter paper contact test, followed by phoxim and lambda-cyhalothrin, while the least toxicity was found from chlorpyrifos*. _'

Solaimalai et al. (2004) investigated effect of various pesticides and their sub-lethal effect on earthworms and demonstrated that the sub-lethal effects cause rupturing of cuticle, oozing out of coelomic fluid, swelling, paling of body and softening of body tissues. Other studies include the cellular autolysis (Luo et al., 1999), damage to male reproductive system (Sorour & Larnik, 2001), swelling (Bharathi & Subbarao, 1984) and coiling of tail (Espinoza-Navarro & Bustos-Obregon, 2004). The higher and the lower dose of insecticides cause physiological damage (cellular dysfunction and protein catabolism) to earthworms (Schreck et al., 2008).

Temperature also plays an important role in degree of pesticide toxicity. Bindesbol et al. (2009) investigated effects of freezing temperatures on toxicities of abamectin and carbendazim. De Silva et al. (2009) investigated influence of temperature and soil type on the toxicities of chlorpyrifos and carbofuran. Lima et al. (2015) investigated effects of carbaryl under low and high temperatures and Garcia et al. (2008) assessed effects of three pesticides on the avoidance behavior under temperate and tropical conditions. These investigations showed that change in temperature may influence the pesticide toxicity, but the results obtained from these studies were not definite and substantiated by any other studies.

*There are many studies on neurotoxicity caused by various insecticides namely neonicotinoid imidacloprid, oxadiazine indoxacarb, pyrethroids alpha-cypermethrin and lambda-cyhalothrin and the combination of organophosphate chlorpyrifos and pyrethroid cypermethrin.* All these insecticides primarily affect nervous system - neonicotinoids interfere with the transmission of stimuli in the nervous system causing irreversible blockage of acetylcholine receptors, oxadiazines act as voltage-gated sodium channel blockers, pyrethroids cause excitation of the sodium and potassium channels of neurons and the delay of closing of the channels during the phase of depolarization and organophosphates inhibit the action of enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE) leading to accumulation of acetylcholine, excessive stimulation of the cholinergic receptors and disruption of neural activity (Stenersen 2004; Casida, 2009; Ribera et al., 2001; Gracia et al.,2011; Nasr & Badawy, 2015). Jeyanthi et al. (2016) reported that Carbaryl at higher concentration (50 kg/ha) decreases protein content and antioxidant enzymes glutathione-S-transferase (GST). The antibiotics, carbamates and organophosphates induced intermediate toxicity response to earthworms. Wang et al., (2012) reported that the neonicotinoids are the most toxic to Eisenia Foetida among the six chemical classes followed by pyrethroids, while IGRs exhibited the lowest toxicity. Organophosphates are not very toxic to earthworms. Considering the high efficacy of neonicotinoids against target organisms, environmental managers should carefully evaluate the use of them in integrated pest management (IPM) programs to avoid serious damage to earthworms.


----------



## mjh648 (Sep 1, 2020)

@tneicna great info. I appreciate it. I struggle to find good studies online for information like this and you just rattle off about 20 of them. :thumbup:

Given all this information what's your philosophy and chemical rotations for insecticide, fungicide, and herbicides given what you know about their harmful effects?


----------



## tneicna (May 6, 2019)

mjh648 said:


> @tneicna great info. I appreciate it. I struggle to find good studies online for information like this and you just rattle off about 20 of them. :thumbup:
> 
> Given all this information what's your philosophy and chemical rotations for insecticide, fungicide, and herbicides given what you know about their harmful effects?


I'm a lowly Ph.D biochemist. I only apply antifungals at select times. (I use nothing but organic materials for my turf)

Personally, I'd use Nematodes, specifically; Heterorhabditis bacteriophora (Hb) nematodes. They actively seek out 'prey' - by hunting for them. Some species of nematodes can annihilate dozens upon dozens of different pests.

They are most effective against Japanese beetles, European chafers and other grubs that are lawn pests. They are parasitic insects that damage drugs and other 'pests' and are generally safe for lawns - much more so than chemicals. Of all of the nematodes studied for biological control of insects, the Steinernematidae and Heterorhabditidae have received the most attention because they possess many of the attributes of effective biological control agents (Kaya and Gaugler, 1993; Grewal et al., 2005a; Koppenhöfer, 2007) and have been utilized as classical, conservational, and augmentative biological control agents. The vast majority of applied research has focused on their potential as inundatively applied augmentative biological control agents (Grewal et al., 2005a). Extensive research over the past three decades has demonstrated both their successes and failures for control of insect pests of crops, ornamental and lawn and turf (Shapiro-Ilan et al., 2002; Georgis et al., 2006). You can probably find them online somewhere.

I -highly- recommend reading over "Biology, Ecology, and Management of Masked Chafer (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) Grubs in Turfgrass" Gyawaly et al (2016) via https://academic.oup.com/jipm/article/7/1/3/2658054

More data to read over;

Koppenhöfer AM, Fuzy EM. Effect of soil type on infectivity and persistence of the entomopathogenic nematodes Steinernema scarabaei, Steinernema glaseri, Heterorhabditis zealandica, and Heterorhabditis bacteriophora. Journal of Invertebrate Pathology. 2006;92:11-22. 
Koppenhöfer AM, Fuzy EM. Early timing and new combinations to increase the efficacy of neonicotinoid-entomopathogenic nematode (Rhabditida: Heterorhabditidae) combinations against white grubs (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) Pest Management Science. 2008;64:725-735. 
Koppenhöfer AM, Fuzy EM. Long-term effects and persistence of Steinernema scarabaei applied for suppression of Anomala orientalis (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) Biological Control. 2009;48:63-72. 
Koppenhöfer AM, Kaya HK. Additive and synergistic interaction between entomopathogenic nematodes and Bacillus thuringiensis for scarab grub control. Biological Control. 1997;8:131-137.
Koppenhöfer AM, Kaya HK. Synergism of imidacloprid and an entomopathogenic nematode: A novel approach to white grub (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) control in turfgrass. Journal of Economic Entomology. 1998;91:618-623. 
Koppenhöfer AM, Brown IM, Gaugler R, Grewal PS, Kaya HK, Klein MG. Synergism of entomopathogenic nematodes and imidacloprid against white grubs: Greenhouse and field evaluation. Biological Control. 2000;19:245-251. 
Koppenhöfer AM, Grewal PS, Fuzy EM. Virulence of the entomopathogenic nematodes Heterorhabditis bacteriophora, Heterorhabditis zealandica, and Steinernema scarabaei against five white grub species (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) of economic importance in turfgrass in North America. Biological Control. 2006;38:397-404. 
Kung SP, Gaugler R, Kaya HK. Effects of soil temperature, moisture and relative humidity on entomopathogenic nematode persistence. Journal of Invertebrate Pathology. 1991;57:242-249.​


----------



## tneicna (May 6, 2019)

Also; See this excellent guide which gives it in a layman's terms for pests control:

https://extension.colostate.edu/docs/pubs/insect/05573.pdf


----------

