Exploring the Relationship Among Lipid Profile Changes, Growth, and Reproduction in Folsomia candida Exposed to Teflubenzuron Over Time

The integration of untargeted lipidomics approaches in ecotoxicology has emerged as a strategy to enhance the comprehensiveness of environmental risk assessment. Although current toxicity tests with soil microarthropods focus on species performance, that is, growth, reproduction, and survival, understanding the mechanisms of toxicity across all levels of biological organization, from molecule to community is essential for informed decision-making. Our study focused on the impacts of sublethal concentrations of the insecticide teflubenzuron on the springtail Folsomia candida. Untargeted lipidomics was applied to link changes in growth, reproduction, and the overall stress response with lipid profile changes over various exposure durations. The accumulation of teflubenzuron in organisms exposed to the highest test concentration (0.035 mg a.s. kg(-1) soil dry wt) significantly impacted reproductive output without compromising growth. The results suggested a resource allocation shift from reproduction to size maintenance. This hypothesis was supported by lipid shifts on day 7, at which point reductions in triacylglycerol and diacylglycerol content corresponded with decreased offspring production on day 21. The hypermetabolism of fatty acids and N-acylethanolamines on days 2 and 7 of exposure indicated oxidative stress and inflammation in the animals in response to teflubenzuron bioaccumulation, as measured using high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Overall, the changes in lipid profiles in comparison with phenotypic adverse outcomes highlight the potential of lipid analysis as an early-warning tool for reproductive disturbances caused by pesticides in F. candida.