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6786713 
Journal Article 
Sublethal effect of agronomical surfactants on the spider Pardosa agrestis 
Niedobova, J; Hula, V; Michalko, R; , 
2016 
Yes 
Environmental Pollution
ISSN: 0269-7491
EISSN: 1873-6424 
ELSEVIER SCI LTD 
OXFORD 
84-89 
26878602 
WOS:000377921800010 
In addition to their active ingredients, pesticides contain also additives - surfactants. Use of surfactants has been increasing over the past decade, but their effects on non-target organisms, especially natural enemies of pests, have been studied only very rarely. The effect of three common agrochemical surfactants on the foraging behavior of the wolf spider Pardosa agrestis was studied in the laboratory. Differences in short-term, long-term, and overall cumulative predatory activities were investigated. We found that surfactant treatment significantly affected short-term predatory activity but had no effect on long-term predatory activity. The surfactants also significantly influenced the cumulative number of killed prey. We also found the sex-specific increase in cumulative kills after surfactants treatment. This is the first study showing that pesticide additives have a sublethal effect that can weaken the predatory activity of a potential biological control agent. More studies on the effects of surfactants are needed to understand how they affect beneficial organisms in agroecosystems. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.