Dung Beetle Neurophysiology and Behaviour Under Deltamethrin Exposure

A 30-day experimental dataset on the neurophysiological and behavioural effects of deltamethrin exposure in the dung beetle Digitonthophagus gazella. The dataset, authored by Nishi Pandya and last updated in April 2026, contains supplementary data from a study exposing beetles to three sublethal concentrations (0.014, 0.028, 0.05 ppm) over 10, 20, and 30 days.

Use Cases

• Modeling dose- and time-dependent behavioural decline based on tunnelling activity and brood ball production data.
• Analyzing correlations between neurochemical changes (dopamine, serotonin, AChE, nitric oxide) and gene expression downregulation.
• Investigating the sensitivity of neuroendocrine pathways to chronic pyrethroid exposure in an ecologically relevant species.

Strengths

• Experimental design includes three sublethal concentrations (0.014, 0.028, 0.05 ppm) and three time points (10, 20, 30 days) for dose- and time-response analysis.
• Measures multiple biological levels: behaviour (tunnelling, brood ball production), neurochemistry (DA, 5-HT, AChE, NO), and gene expression (ddc, 5-htpdc, chat, nos, npf, npfr, it, itr, mip).
• Reports specific quantitative effects, such as up to a 75% decrease in brood ball development and 66-85% reduction in nitric oxide levels.

Limitations

• Row count and column-level documentation are unknown, requiring manual inspection after download.
• The dataset is small (173.3 KB), indicating limited scope, likely containing summary or supplementary results rather than raw observations.

Provenance

Source

figshare, author Nishi Pandya.

Collection Method

Laboratory experiment exposing adult dung beetles to deltamethrin-contaminated dung.

Time Range

Experimental period of 30 days.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-09 06:52:48.

Geography

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