Diacetone alcohol, a dispersant solvent, contributes to acute toxicity of a fipronil-based insecticide in a passerine bird

Fipronil, a phenyl pyrazole pesticide, is aerially applied in eastern Australia to control locust outbreaks, usually as “Adonis 3UL Insecticide^®” (BASF), an ultra low (UL) volume formulation containing 0.3% active pesticide. We tested the toxicities of technical-grade fipronil, the Adonis 3UL formulation and its components in zebra finch, a native bird at risk of exposure in locust control regions. We estimated oral-dose LD50 by the Up-and-Down method. Under laboratory conditions, we identified unexpectedly high toxicities due exclusively to diacetone alcohol (DAA), a solvent making up 12.5% of the Adonis 3UL formulation. In contrast, finches were asymptomatic when exposed to 0.3% technical grade fipronil dissolved in a minimum amount of acetone. Depending upon the behaviour and persistence of DAA under field conditions, this formulation of Adonis 3UL may pose a far greater threat to the health of small birds and possibly other vertebrates than expected for fipronil alone.

1.° Adonis martyrologium, ad usum ecclesiae sancti Marii Badonensis : praemittitur libellus de festivitatibus Apostolorum et caeterorum qui Discipuli, aut vicini, successoresque ipsorum Apostolorum fuerunt. — 2.° Sancti Cypriani epistolae duae, prima ad Successum, altera ad Clerum et plebem. — 3.° Acta sancti Ignatii, Martyris. — 4.° Anonymi tractatus de gradibus perfectionis. — 5.° Passio S. Dei-votae, Virginis.

Mazarinaeus

1.° Martyrologium ab Augusti die decima quinta initium ducens, nec ab illo diversum quod Adonis nomine circumfertur. — 2.° Proverbia, Ecclesiastes et Canticum canticorum. — Hujus codicis pars decimo, pars undecimo saeculo videtur exarata.

Sancti Martialis Lemovicensis

Impact of game bird release on the Adonis blue butterfly Polyommatus bellargus (Lepidoptera Lycaenidae) on chalk grassland

Polyommatus bellargus is a priority species of butterfly in the UK as a result of its scarcity and the rate of population decline over the last few years. In the UK, the species is associated with chalk grassland on hot, south-facing slopes suitable for the growth of the food plant Hippocrepis comosa. Shooting game birds is a popular pastime in the UK. Over 40 million game birds, principally Phasianus colchicus and Alectoris rufa, are bred and released into the countryside each year for shooting interests. There is a concern that the release of such a large number of non-native birds has an adverse effect on native wildlife. A study was carried out over a period of 3 years out to examine whether there was any evidence that A. rufa released into chalk grassland habitat negatively affects populations of P. bellargus. A comparison was made between sites where large numbers of A. rufa were released versus sites where no, or few, birds were released. The study involved the construction of exclosures in these sites to allow an examination of the number of butterflies emerging from H. comosa when the birds were excluded versus when the birds had free range across the area. Where birds were present the on-site vegetation was shorter than where they were absent indicating that the birds were definitely influencing habitat structure. However, the evidence that A. rufa was negatively influencing the number of adult butterflies emerging was not strong, although there was a largely non-significant tendency for higher butterfly emergence when the birds were excluded or absent.

El hermetismo del mito de Adonis en la literatura británica

Si bien el termino Adonai o su variante Adonis en la mitología Griega remiten tanto a la divinidad Bíblica como a la mitología antigua e inclusive a los tratados filosóficos de Aristóteles o Spinoza, es curioso que el concepto haya sido personificado y alegorizado con tanta frecuencia en la literatura Anglófona, inclusive en textos cuya interpretación tradicional ha sido de carácter secular. La forma fragmentada en la que la crítica ha entendido el concepto Adonai en obras clásicas de escritores como Shakespeare, Spenser, Milton, Blake, Coleridge, Shelley, Bulwer, Joyce, T. S. Eliot, entre otros se convierte en el desencadenante de debates no solo literarios sino también filosóficos y religiosos como por ejemplo los desatados por la aparición de El Código Da Vinci (en su formato de novela y de película), en el que el concepto Adonai es recreado desde una perspectiva esotérica que invita a reconsiderar la concepción del mismo en los clásicos escritos siglos antes. Si el contacto que tuvieron Shelley, Shakespeare, Milton, Spenser, Bulwer, Blake y Joyce con la doctrina hermética les proporcionó el sustento simbólico y el imaginario alquímico de sus obras, entonces se puede afirmar que sus obras pueden condensar de manera alegórica el conocimiento que ellos tenían de las ciencias ocultas. Si el mito de Adonis alegóricamente recrea, de acuerdo al hermetismo, la caída sexual de Adonis, y a través de él la caída de la humanidad, entonces las obras analizadas aludirían a la debilidad carnal del ser humano. Si se puede descubrir una esencia arquetípica de Adonis en las obras estudiadas y asimismo detectarse un paralelismo en las ideas planteadas por la película norteamericana The Da Vinci Code, entonces es posible identificar analogías y relaciones entre los intereses artísticos e ideológicos presentes en ambas culturas.

Adonis y Venus

Sign. : A16

Venus and Adonis

Peter Paul Rubens; 6 ft. 5 3/4 in.x 7 ft. 11 5/8 in.; oil on canvas

B. Gregorii Turone[n]sis episcopi Historiarum pr[a]ecipue gallicaru[m] lib. X ; In vitas patrum fere sui temporis lib. I. ; De gloria confessorum praecipue gallorum lib. I. : Adonis Vie[n]ne[n]sis episcopi, sex aetatu[m] mu[n]di breues seu co[m]mentarii vsq[ue] ad Carolu[m] simplicem francorum regem.

Mode of access: Internet.

Fables de La Fontaine, suivies d'Adonis, poeme.

Mode of access: Internet.

Adonis hortum in Sancti Caroli Cathaloniae Principatus Civitate, Carolus IIII ... à medicinae doctore Ignatio Armengol conficiendum esse decrevit. Apollinae Artis herbifer iste ob amicitiae nomen Doctore D. Jacobo Menós & de Llena ... ut herbarum semina, & plantas, Linnei insequendo systema, aliorumve authorum, ad se mitere in votâ vocavit ...

Mode of access: Internet.

Gregorii Turonici Historiae Francorum libri decem : in quibus non solum Francorum res gestae, sed etiam martyrum cum infidelibus bella, [et] Ecclesiae cum haereticis concertationes exponuntur : Adonis Viennensis Chronica.

CCBE. S. XVI,

The poems of William Shakespeare: viz. Venus and Adonis, The rape of Lucrece, Sonnets, The passionate pilgrim and The lover's complaint, with Mr. Capell's History of the origin of SHakespeare's fables.

Mode of access: Internet.

Fables suivies d'Adonis, poème.

Notice sur la vie de La Fontaine [du cit. Naigeon], vol. I, pp. ix-lvi.

Venus and Adonis. Vilia miretur vulgus: mihi flauus Apollo Pocula Castalia plena ministret aqua.

Facsimile reprint, by photographic process.

Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis, Lucrece, and other poems /

Mode of access: Internet.