Social insects can be used as bioindicators of environmental quality. The trace metals, heavy metals, radioactivity, pesticides, environmental pollutants have been monitored by using social wasps. The species of Polistinae build up their nest in nature by collecting various organic and inorganic materials from surrounding areas. The idea of this study was to detect the accumulation of copper as environmental pollutant on native species. The nest materials belonging to two species Polistes nimpha and Polistes dominulus were collected from Adana in Çukurova Region that is one of the very important agriculture areas in Turkey and analyzed through flame atomic absorption spectrometric methods. The amount of copper was found in the nests of P. nimpha and P. dominulus which was changed from 2.03 to 6.68µg.g-1. It is believed that this accumulation is due to applications of copper-containing pesticides. Overall analyses of findings indicated that composition of the nests of Polistes might be evaluated as biomonitor for copper pollution.
Primary Language | English |
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Subjects | Engineering |
Journal Section | Articles |
Authors | |
Publication Date | July 18, 2018 |
Submission Date | October 10, 2017 |
Published in Issue | Year 2018 Volume: 11 Issue: 1 |