Low doses of ivermectin cause sensory and locomotor disorders in dung beetles Verdú, José R. Cortez, Vieyle Ortiz, Antonio J. González-Rodríguez, Estela Martínez-Pinna, Juan Lumaret, Jean-Pierre Lobo, Jorge M. Numa, Catherine Sánchez-Piñero, Francisco Agroecology Behavioural ecology Ecophysiology Ivermectin is a veterinary pharmaceutical generally used to control the ecto- and endoparasites of livestock, but its use has resulted in adverse effects on coprophilous insects, causing population decline and biodiversity loss. There is currently no information regarding the direct effects of ivermectin on dung beetle physiology and behaviour. Here, based on electroantennography and spontaneous muscle force tests, we show sub-lethal disorders caused by ivermectin in sensory and locomotor systems of Scarabaeus cicatricosus, a key dung beetle species in Mediterranean ecosystems. Our findings show that ivermectin decreases the olfactory and locomotor capacity of dung beetles, preventing them from performing basic biological activities. These effects are observed at concentrations lower than those usually measured in the dung of treated livestock. Taking into account that ivermectin acts on both glutamate-gated and GABA-gated chloride ion channels of nerve and muscle cells, we predict that ivermectin’s effects at the physiological level could influence many members of the dung pat community. The results indicate that the decline of dung beetle populations could be related to the harmful effects of chemical contamination in the dung. 2015-09-28T09:16:19Z 2015-09-28T09:16:19Z 2015 info:eu-repo/semantics/article Verdú, J.R.; et al. Low doses of ivermectin cause sensory and locomotor disorders in dung beetles. Scientific Reports, 5: 13912 (2015). [http://hdl.handle.net/10481/37676] 2045-2322 http://hdl.handle.net/10481/37676 10.1038/srep13912 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License Nature Publishing Group