A staged approach using ants as test organism in ecotoxicology: Data repository

Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) are eusocial insects and essential for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Despite their ecological relevance, ants are often neglected in ecotoxicity testing. We developed a staged testing scheme using ants as non-target organisms by exposing workers, larvae, and founding queens of three ant species (<i>Camponotus maculatus</i>, <i>Crematogaster</i> sp., and <i>Lasius niger</i>) to various concentrations of the neonicotinoid imidacloprid. Sub-colonies were orally exposed to honey water - imidacloprid solutions and lethal and sublethal effects were monitored and are presented in detail.This Data Repository provides the raw data used for the anaylses in Pohl et al. 2025 (A staged approach using ants as test organism in ecotoxicology)蚂蚁（膜翅目：蚁科）为真社会性昆虫，对维持生物多样性与生态系统功能至关重要。尽管蚂蚁具备重要的生态价值，但在生态毒性测试（ecotoxicity testing）中却常被忽视。本研究开发了一套以蚂蚁作为非靶标生物（non-target organisms）的阶段性测试方案，选取3种蚂蚁的工蚁、幼虫及建群蚁后（founding queens），分别为斑弓背蚁（Camponotus maculatus）、举腹蚁属未定种（Crematogaster sp.）以及黑毛蚁（Lasius niger），将其暴露于不同浓度的新烟碱类杀虫剂吡虫啉（imidacloprid）中。亚蚁群（sub-colonies）经口暴露于含吡虫啉的蜂蜜水溶液，研究人员对其致死效应与亚致死效应进行了监测，并做了详细记录。本数据集仓库提供了Pohl等人2025年发表的论文《生态毒理学中以蚂蚁作为受试生物的阶段性研究方法》（A staged approach using ants as test organism in ecotoxicology）中分析所用的原始数据。