Effects of Insect Resistant GM Crops on target and non-target insects

Insect-resistant transgenic plants have been suggested to have unpredictable effects on the biodiversity of the agro-ecosystem, including potential non-target effects on insect natural enemies. The impact of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxins and protease inhibitors (PIs) on two important coleopteran predators, carabid beetles and ladybird beetles, was investigated via bitrophic and tritrophic interactions.