Oil pollution mediated mortality and behavior modification in coastal insects

Oil is known to cause mortality, reduced fecundity, reduced growth, and changes in behavior and metabolism in a variety of coastal organisms. Insects are at a specifically high risk to the negative impacts of oil and oil components due to the chemical composition of their cuticle, high metabolic rate, and size. We looked at how direct and indirect exposure to the oil -water emulsion associated with the Macando 252 blowout affected Acheta domesticus and Crematogaster pilosa under controlled laboratory conditions. A. domesticus showed a significant increase in mortality from controls when direct contact with oil or contact with only oil vapors occurred. Long term exposure to oil vapors to colonies of A. domesticus is currently being conducted to look at effects on fecundity. Significant decreases in foraging behavior and success occurred when cohorts of C. pilosa were exposed to the oil emulsion under various conditions. These laboratory trials indicate possible explanations for mortality and changes in insect populations in related field studies.