Deltamethrin impact in soil surface coleoptera associated with maize crop in no tillage and conventional plantation systems

Deltamethrin is one of the most frequently used insecticide in Brazilian maize fields aiming to control the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda J.E. Smith (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Despite the fact that the toxicology of this insecticide is well known, there is little information about its impact on Neotropical Coleoptera. Therefore our objective was to evaluate the deltamethrin effect on the Coleoptera assemblage associated with maize crops. The treatments used were conventional and no tillage cultivation with or without deltamethrin sprays. There was significant effect of the cultivation system on the species assemblage selected for analysis. The effect of deltamethrin was only detected in the conventional cultivation system, while no significant effect of insecticide spraying was observed on the Coleoptera assemblage associated with the maize crop, suggesting a buffer effect provided by this cultivation system in the impact caused by the insecticide.

Insecticide impact; pyrethroid; Zea mays