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Many groups of organisms found in agricultural areas are experiencing catastrophic declines, including: birds (e.g., Nebel, S. et al. 2010. Declines of aerial insectivores in North America follow a geographic gradient. Avian Conserv. Ecol. 5(2): 1. [online]); bats (e.g., Wickramasinghe, L.P. et al. 2004. Abundance and species richness of nocturnal insects on organic and conventional farms: effects of agricultural intensification on bat foraging. Conserv. Biol. 18: 1283–1292); amphibians (e.g., Blaustein, A.R. 2011. The complexity of amphibian population declines: understanding the role of cofactors in driving amphibian losses. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 1223: 108-119); bumblebees (e.g., Cameron, S.A. et al. 2011. Patterns of widespread decline in North American bumble bees. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 108(2): 662-667); butterflies (e.g., Van Dyck, H. et al. 2009. Declines in common, widespread butterflies in a landscape under intense human use. Conserv. Biol. 23(4): 957-965); moths (e.g., Conrad, K.F. et al. 2006. Rapid declines of common, widespread British moths provide evidence of an insect biodiversity crisis. Biol. Conserv. 132(3): 271-291); and carabid beetles (Brooks, D. R. et al. 2012. Large carabid beetle declines in a United Kingdom monitoring network increases evidence for a widespread loss in insect biodiversity. J. Appl. Ecol. 49(5): 1009-1019). There is an urgent need for greater understanding of the degree to which exposure to neonicotinoid insecticides may be contributing to these declines, and how exposure to these chemicals may be interacting with other negative pressures on biodiversity in agricultural areas.

Imidacloprid is a neonicotinoid insecticide belonging to the chloronicotinyl nitroguanidine chemical family. It acts on the nervous system through an acetylcholine receptor blockade and is considered nontoxic to humans based on the available literature. We report a case that presented with severe gastrointestinal symptoms along with respiratory distress and neuropsychiatric features following accidental inhalational exposure to imidacloprid. Patient recovered from the effects of poisoning with supportive and symptomatic treatment. According to the best of our knowledge this is the first report of acute inhalational intoxication with imidacloprid in India.

EFFORTS to protect one of Loch Lomond's rarest bird species are set to fail - with conservationists all but admitting defeat in their bid to save the area's capercaillies. The capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus), a large woodland grouse, once thrived in the Trossachs and Argyle, however, across the country numbers have been in decline for the past 40 years. Recent efforts by conservationists to halt the birds' terminal decline around Loch Lomond have failed, with only a handful thought to be remaining in the area. In the 1970s as many as 20,000 capercaillies could be found in Scotland, however, it is thought there is now only around 1,000 left in the country with the few remaining around Loch Lomond growing increasingly isolated from the more stable populations found in the Cairngorms National Park. Alan Bell, natural heritage manager for Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park Authority, explained: "Despite all our shared efforts the simple fact is that no new birds are moving into the area to breed with the resident birds. "Although individual birds were spotted in 2012, we have seen no signs of breeding activity in the last two years. The islands are rich places for nature and the efforts to protect the important wildlife there will of course continue."

There are fears that capercaillie populations in the southernmost part of their range are no longer viable despite intensive efforts to save them. A cluster of small populations of capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus) in the Trossachs and Argyll have steadily declined over recent decades. The last of these populations, centred on some of the Loch Lomond islands, has now dwindled to the point where there are only a few birds left. The nearest strong population is now in the Cairngorms National Park well beyond the distance that capercaillie will travel to search for territory or a mate. This leaves any remaining birds on the islands isolated, with no realistic prospect of being joined by individuals from elsewhere. While some birds may still be spotted on the islands, they are very few in number and little or no breeding is taking place. Long-running efforts by Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park Authority, Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), RSPB Scotland and local landowners have not been able to halt this decline.

The future looks uncertain for one of the most beloved symbols of the Canadian wilderness, according to a new report from Bird Studies Canada (BirdLife co-Partner in Canada). The Canadian Lakes Loon Survey 1981-2012 reveals troubling trends for the Common Loon (Gavia immer). Currently Common Loon pairs are successfully producing enough chicks to maintain a stable population. Unfortunately, Bird Studies Canada’s research shows that their reproductive success (defined as the annual number of young raised to six weeks of age) has significantly declined since 1992. And the trends indicate that even worse news may be around the corner. If the current rate of decline continues, Common Loon numbers are expected to begin decreasing within two decades.“We are approaching the tipping point. Annual reproductive success may soon drop below the minimum level required for these birds to sustain their numbers,” says Bird Studies Canada scientist Dr. Doug Tozer, the lead author of the report. “Because 95% of the world’s Common Loons breed in our country, Canadians have a critical role to play in monitoring and conserving loon populations.”

Seeding is over for this year on Canadian corn and soy farms. But a student’s research suggests the consequences on bees could last a long time. He has collected data that showed apiaries installed less than three kilometers (1.86 miles) from insecticide-treated fields had rate of mortality three times higher. The Quebec master’s student, Olivier Samson-Robert, had attempted to put a figure on the noted decline in bee populations and detemine how much of it was linked to a certain type of insecticide.The Laval University student released the first part of his study about bees’ mortality around fields treated with neonicotinoid insecticides, one of the most widely used insecticides in the world.“The neonicotinoid insecticide causes a higher mortality rate,” Samson-Robert says.

The Game, Fish and Parks Commission has decided that no season will be held this fall because the bird’s population has fallen in recent years in South Dakota and other states. In South Dakota, sage grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) are found mainly in Butte and Harding counties. South Dakota has had only a limited sage grouse season in prior years. Last year, 35 licensed hunters killed only nine birds. Wildlife biologists recommended that no season be held this year because of a continuing decline in the number of male sage grouse seen in spring breeding grounds. State wildlife officials have been working with federal agencies and other states in an effort to prevent the bird from being listed as an endangered species.

Because of an unusually cold spring and an insect shortage this summer, conservationists are concerned bat numbers could continue to suffer this year. Based on the latest figures from Britain’s National Bat Monitoring Programme (NBMP), the annual bat breeding season got off to a slow start due to unseasonable weather earlier this year. Dr. Kate Barlow, Head of Monitoring at the Bat Conservation Trust, said, “After 2 years of long, wet, winters and a particularly late and cold start to summer this year, the outlook isn’t too promising for our bats. The most recent results from the National Bat Monitoring Programme showed that there were fewer bats were counted in 2012 than in 2011 for most species monitored.” Dr. Barlow added that 2013 saw the coldest March in 50 years and summer got off to such a late start many of the species are struggling. “This year Britain’s bats need all the help they get,” she said. Several species of bats in Britain are listed as European Priority, highlighted as the most at risk species in Europe with numbers sharply declining over the past 100 years. This decline has been attributed to several factors, which include climate shifts, changes in farming and land use, pesticides and in some cases persecution. Further adding to the bat recovery struggle is the fact that winged insect numbers are also down. So on top of a cold spring and delayed summer, several species may face shortages in food supply, especially those that rely on moths, according to a National Trust report released last month.

The challenge was filed with the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals by the National Pollinator Defense Fund, American Honey Producers Association, National Honey Bee Advisory Board, the American Beekeeping Federation, and three individual beekeepers. In a prepared statement, Seattle-based Earthjustice attorney Janette Brimmer said the EPA has "failed" hard-pressed beekeepers. "The effects will be devastating to our nation's food supply and also to the beekeeping industry, which is struggling because of toxic pesticides," she said. "This lawsuit against the EPA is attempt by the beekeepers to save their suffering industry." In a news release, the groups note that Sulfoxaflor is sub-class of "neonicotinoid" pesticides, which some scientists believe is a potential factor in colony collapse disorder, the mysterious ailment that has wiped out hives globally. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in May approved Sulfoxaflor for use on multiple food and fiber crops and other plants. Crops on which the pesticide may be used include barley, wheat, strawberries, cotton, canola, nuts, beans and grass grown for seed.

Butterflies are the essence of cool in the insect world, a favorite muse for poets and songwriters, who hold them up as symbols of love, beauty, transformation and good fortune. But providing good fortune apparently goes only one way. As humans rip apart woods and meadows for housing developments and insecticide-soaked lawns, butterflies across the country are disappearing. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently announced that two brown, mothlike butterfly subspecies are probably extinct in South Florida, which some entomologists say is ground zero for the number of butterfly species on the verge of annihilation.