Large quantities of chlordecone-based insecticides were produced and used throughout the world. One of its most important uses was to control the damage caused by Cosmopolites sordidus in banana-growing regions. In the islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe, 18,000 ha of farmland are potentially contaminated. Despite the key role played by soil macrofauna in agroecosystems, there are currently no data on their contamination. The aim of this study was to explore the fate of chlordecone (CLD) and its transfer to different organisms of the soil food web. Seven species of invertebrates representing different taxonomic groups and trophic levels of the soil communities of Martinique were targeted and collected in six experimental banana fields, with a level of contamination within a range of values classically observed. Soil samples and macrofauna from the study sites were analysed for CLD and chlordecol (CLDOH) its main transformation product. The contamination of the soil fauna were related to delta 15N 15 N (trophic level), proportion of soil ingestion (diet) and types of epidermis (mucus or exoskeleton) in order to study the different mechanisms of macrofauna contamination. Presence of CLD and CLDOH could be quantified in all the soil organisms from contaminated fields. Results showed a significant relationship between the CLD contamination of detritivorous and the ash content of their faeces, suggesting that soil ingestion was the main contamination pathway. In contrast, the exoskeleton-bearing diplopod Trigoniulus coralinus and the soft-bodied earthworm Eudrilus eugeniae, both detritivores with a comparable diet, had similar contamination levels, suggesting that the type of tegument has little influence on bioaccumulation. At the scale of the entire trophic network, a significant relationship was uncovered between delta 15N 15 N values and CLD contamination of the fauna, therefore providing some in situ evidence for a bioamplification process along the soil food chain.

We report for the first time that larvae of the genus Bothynus Hope (Coleoptera: Melolonthidae) caused economic damage to lucerne (Medicago sativa L., Fabaceae) crops in General Acha, province of La Pampa, Argentina. In two consecutive years (2021 and 2022), this insect infested 150 ha of lucerne, causing seedling losses of 80 ha. Based on soil sampling and laboratory insect rearing, the species was identified as Bothynus striatellus (Faimaire) (Coleoptera: Melolonthidae). Information is given here on the damage recorded in this forage crop, the density of the larvae observed at the time of damage assessment and the morphological characteristics of the third instar larvae reported in this crop in Argentina.