Ecotoxicological Effects of Heavy Metal Pollution on Economically Important Terrestrial Insects

Pollution is among the major anthropogenically induced drivers of environmental change. Heavy metals, released from industry and transport, can contaminate aquatic and terrestrial environments, inducing further ecotoxicological effects in different organisms. Insects play crucial ecological roles in maintenance of ecosystem structure and functioning and deliver such ecosystem services as food provisioning, plant pollination, dung burial, pest control and wildlife nutrition. Economically important terrestrial insects vary in an ability to accumulate heavy metals and demonstrate substantial difference in heavy metal tolerance. Despite global pollinator decline, only limited information is available about effects of heavy metals on wild bees. Ants, wasps and beetles are key-predatory insect groups in many terrestrial ecosystems. Responses in ants are investigated to higher extent than in wasps and revealed ecotoxicological effects of heavy metal pollution in beetles are biased to model species. Insect pests such as aphids and butterfly larvae respond to heavy metal pollution with modifications in their morphology and physiology, however more studies are needed to understand general directions of adaptations in this functional group of economically important insects. When investigated the problem of insect decline, heavy metal pollution should be thoroughly considered. In addition to natural habitat transformation, use of insecticides and modifications in agriculture, ecotoxicological effects of heavy metals on useful insects might have direct consequences to food security, agricultural economy and human welfare.