LdMNPV has undergone numerous tests in regards to toxicity and mortality, all of which show no adverse effects except varying irritation for ocular doses administered to the eyes of rabbits. LdMNPV was found to not infect other members of the order Lepidoptera, or
Hymenoptera-order insects such as ants and bees.
In rats Spongy moth NPV doses were shown to have no mortality or toxicity in rats. Four studies showed no toxicity or mortality across various doses and processes. One study (Terrell et al. 1976c) which noted decreased weight, noted that the rats used in the test were suffering from overt physical and behavioral changes including the control. Mortality in this study were 3 treated with LdNPV and 8 in the control group. One study (Shope et al. 1975) which showed no toxicity indicated had an antigen response in treated mice. A long-term test also confirmed this. A study into ocular irritation in rats found no irritation after the animals were observed for 21 days. Three inhalation tests found no mortality or toxicity. An inhalation study in sacrificed animals found the persistence of NPV of 95.96% at day 1, 68.0% at day 7 and 8.09% at day 14. One intraperitoneal study found no mortality or adverse effects. A study done by Shope et al. 1975 done by inoculation had a bacterial abscess at the site of inoculation, but did not differ between results in immunosuppressed mice and immunocompetent mice.
Other mammals A study done on mice, shrews and two opossums showed no toxicity, no adverse effects or abnormalities, and the animals were sacrificed twelve days after last exposure. A study done on purebred beagles were found to have no toxicity after exposure for 90 days with doses of approximately 0.2, 1.6, and 17 mg/kg/day based on terminal body weights in each dose group. A study done on albino guinea pigs found no toxicity, mortality or irritation after dermal application of LdNPV. One study performed found a 'positive' reaction, but no conclusions were drawn as to the reason for the reaction. Three studies on rabbits found no irritation, toxicity or mortality with dermal application. Three studies with application to the eye found no significant irritation. Two studies found evidence of irritation in ocular tests. A third study using LdMNPV powder in a 50 mg dose was found to be a moderate eye irritant; a test rabbit died during this study, but its death was found not to be of LdMNPV, the findings noted the presence of diarrhea. Irritation was reported in a study using 'LDP 53 air dried sample' lasting from 4 to 14 days; analysis found the presence of
Staph epidermidis,
Corynebacterium xerosis,
Bacillus cereus, and
Bacilius subtillis, but this was not labeled as significant.
Birds In many tests across various species, birds have shown no toxicity or mortality to LdMNPV. Two oral studies, one on mallard ducks and the other on black-capped chickadees and house sparrows, had no adverse effects. Two field test studies found no significant difference on songbirds and caged quail populations at one to two months after application.
Insects Studies performed on 46 species of non-target
Lepidoptera species, adult
Cyrtophleba coquilletti flies and
Megachile rotundata bees found no infection, or significant mortality versus controls. Additional studies on honeybees found no detrimental effects. Studies on 17 genera and 31 species of ants were found not to be adversely affected by treatment with Gypchek.
Aquatic invertebrates Tests on
Daphnia, backswimmers, midges and water boatmen found no significant effects on survival. Another test found that the mortality rate for
Daphnia fed spongy moth larvae in virus treated water was similar to those in virus free water, 2.2% versus 3.1%. == Identification of the gene ==