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Pyrethroid insecticides are widely used in agriculture, but their sublethal effects on male reproduction in Antheraea pernyi (Guérin-Méneville, 1855) (Saturniidae) remain largely unknown. Here, we evaluated the effects of sublethal β-cypermethrin exposure (LC20 = 0.0074 mg/L) on gonadal development, testicular morphology, sperm quantity and function, mating behavior, and post-mating egg traits from the larval to adult stages and investigated the molecular mechanisms using transcriptome sequencing. Insecticide stress impaired testicular development and disrupted spermatogenesis, leading to a 25% reduction in eupyrene sperm bundles, a 10.72% decrease in acrosin activity, and a 16.75% decrease in the curvilinear velocity of apyrene sperm. Mating willingness decreased by 17.78 percentage points, and females mated with treated males produced 20.45% fewer eggs. Transcriptome analysis identified 1193 differentially expressed genes (|log2FC| > 1, FDR < 0.01). Detoxification and stress response genes (e.g., CYP3A27, GSTD1, ABCB1, and Hsp70) were predominantly up-regulated, while reproduction-related genes (e.g., dnal1, tubb1, ATPsynbeta, far1, JHAMT, mei-41, and dna2) were down-regulated. This study demonstrates that sublethal β-cypermethrin exposure induces male reproductive toxicity in A. pernyi through a “dual-hit” mechanism: persistently activating the detoxification system (leading to energy depletion) while directly suppressing reproductive genes, ultimately resulting in impaired germ cell development, defective sperm function, and reduced fertility.
Chen et al. (Mon,) studied this question.