A chemical substance used to kill insects.
insecticidal in·sec'ti·cid'al (-sīd'l) adj.insecticidally in·sec'ti·cid'al·ly adv.
insecticide
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in·sec·ti·cide (ĭn-sĕk'tĭ-sīd')  |
n.
insecticidally in·sec'ti·cid'al·ly adv.
insecticidally in·sec'ti·cid'al·ly adv.
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| Sci-Tech Encyclopedia: Insecticide |
A material used to kill insects and related animals by disruption of vital processes through chemical action. Insecticides may be inorganic or organic chemicals. The principal source is from chemical manufacturing, although a few are derived from plants.
Insecticides are classified according to type of action as stomach poisons, contact poisons, residual poisons, systemic poisons, fumigants, repellents, attractants, insect growth regulators, or pheromones. Many act in more than one way. Stomach poisons are applied to plants so that they will be ingested as insects chew the leaves. Contact poisons are applied in a manner to contact insects directly, and are used principally to control species which obtain food by piercing leaf surfaces and withdrawing liquids. Residual insecticides are applied to surfaces so that insects touching them will pick up lethal dosages. Systemic insecticides are applied to plants or animals and are absorbed and translocated to all parts of the organisms, so that insects feeding upon them will obtain lethal doses. Fumigants are applied as gases, or in a form which will vaporize to a gas, so that they can enter the insects' respiratory systems. Repellents prevent insects from closely approaching their hosts. Attractants induce insects to come to specific locations in preference to normal food sources. Insect growth regulators are generally considered to act through disruption of biochemical systems or processes associated with growth or development, such as control of metamorphosis by the juvenile hormones, regulation of molting by the steroid molting hormones, or regulation of enzymes responsible for synthesis or deposition of chitin. Pheromones are chemicals which are emitted by one sex, usually the female, for perception by the other, and function to enhance mate location and identification; pheromones are generally highly species-specific.
Formulation of insecticides is extremely important in obtaining satisfactory control. Common formulations include dusts, water suspensions, emulsions, and solutions. Accessory agents, including dust carriers, solvents, emulsifiers, wetting and dispersing agents, stickers, deodorants or masking agents, synergists, and antioxidants, may be required to obtain a satisfactory product.
Proper timing of insecticide applications is important in obtaining satisfactory control. Whatever the technique used, the application of insecticides should be correlated with the occurrence of the most susceptible or accessible stage in the life cycle of the pest involved. By and large, treatments should be made only when economic damage by a pest appears to be imminent.
Among problems associated with insect control are the development of strains of insects resistant to insecticides; the assessment of the significance of small, widely distributed insecticide residues in and upon the environment; the development of better and more reliable methods for forecasting insect outbreaks; the evolvement of control programs integrating all methods—physical, physiological, chemical, biological, and cultural—for which practicality was demonstrated; the development of equipment and procedures to detect chemicals much below the part-per-million and microgram levels. As a consequence of the provisions of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act as amended by the Federal Environmental Pesticide Control Act of 1972, there have been increased efforts to obtain data delineating mammalian toxicology, persistence in the environment, and immediate chronic impact of pesticides upon nontarget invertebrate and vertebrate organisms occupying aquatic, terrestrial, and arboreal segments of the environment. See also Fumigant; Insect control, biological; Insecta; Pesticide.
| Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: insecticide |
For more information on insecticide, visit Britannica.com.
| Columbia Encyclopedia: insecticides |
insecticides, chemical, biological, or other agents used to destroy insect pests; the term commonly refers to chemical agents only.
Chemical Insecticides
The modern history of chemical insecticides in the United States dates from 1867, when Paris green proved effective against the Colorado potato beetle. Within a decade Paris green and kerosene oil emulsion were being employed against a variety of chewing and sucking insects. In the early part of the 20th cent. fluorine compounds and plant-derived insecticides were developed. Except for plant derivatives such as nicotine, pyrethrin, and rotenone, early insecticides were almost all inorganic chemicals. The discovery in Europe in 1939 of the insecticidal value of DDT, a synthetic organic compound, led to the synthesis of thousands of organic molecules in a search for potent chemicals. Today several hundred chemical insecticidal agents are registered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and licensed in more than 10,000 formulations. Promptly effective, easy to use, and readily available, chemicals have become the modern weapons of choice against insects, contributing to stable food and fiber productivity, to human and animal health, and to the comfort and quality of human life.
As early as the 1920s, insecticide use in the United States prompted concerns over residues in foodstuffs and calls for regulation. In the 1960s, with increasing worldwide interest in environmental protection, chemical insecticides became objects of scientific and popular protest. Critics charged that chemical insecticides were dangerous and self-defeating, provoking the development of resistance by target pests, sabotaging ecological systems, and poisoning people and other organisms as well as the environment. In response, governments have restricted or proscribed many of the most dangerous insecticides, including many chlorinated hydrocarbon standbys: DDT, benzene hexachloride, lindane, aldrin, dieldrin, chlordane, heptachlor, endrin, and toxaphene-all powerful, broad-spectrum contact and stomach poisons.
Chemists, meanwhile, have invented alternative insecticides that attack selectively instead of indiscriminately, and that break down into nontoxic substances in the environment. Organophosphates attack insect nervous systems, much like the chlorinated hydrocarbons, but are much quicker to break down into nontoxic substances. A large and versatile group, the organophosphates include parathion, with one of the highest mammalian toxicities, and Malathion, with one of the lowest. Carbamate insecticides, esters of carbanilic acid that kill insect larvae, nymphs, and adults on contact, have gained favor because they break down even more quickly than organophosphates and are less hazardous to humans. Among the carbamates is Sevin, or carbaryl, an N-methyl aromatic carbamate ester.
Alternatives: Biological Insecticides
The liabilities of chemical insecticides have encouraged interest in biological controls, which turn natural processes and mechanisms against pest insects and have few if any harmful side effects. Biological controls include using predators, parasites, and pathogens to kill target insects without harming other organisms. In another strategy, huge numbers of sterilized male insects are released to compete with fertile males for mates, diminishing the population of the next generation. Interest is growing in the use of synthetic insect hormones to disrupt pests' vital processes, such as growth; and synthetic pheromones, powerful insect sex attractants, to monitor pest populations, sabotage pest reproduction, and lure pests into traps. In practice, however, some of the environmentally attractive features of biological insecticides-their inherently slow and selective activity, their strict management requirements-can make them economically unattractive to farmers. Increasingly, therefore, biological and chemical methods are coordinated in Integrated Pest Management programs.
Bibliography
See R. Carson, Silent Spring (1962); A. Mallis, Handbook of Pest Control (7th ed. 1990); G. J. Marco et al., ed., Regulation of Agrochemicals (1991); R. L. Metcalf, Destructive and Useful Insects: Their Habits and Control (5th ed. 1992).
| Veterinary Dictionary: insecticide |
An agent that kills insects. May be applied by pour-on technique, dipping, spraydip, jetting, dusting powders. Insecticides come in a wide variety of chemical compounds. See also pyrethroids, rotenone, derris, chlorinated hydrocarbons, organophosphorus compound, arsenical, carbamates, triazines. The toxicity of an insecticidal preparation may be greatly altered by the agents used as emulsifiers and solvents. Called also pesticide.
- i. resistance — insects exposed to one insecticide for long periods may develop a resistance to it and suffer no ill-effects when it is applied.
| Gardener's Dictionary: insecticide |
| Word Tutor: insecticide |
IN BRIEF: Poison used to kill bugs.
The gardener planted marigolds, which are a natural insecticide.
| Wikipedia: Insecticide |
For other uses, see Insecticide (disambiguation).
An insecticide is a pesticide used against insects. They include ovicides and larvicides used against the eggs and larvae of insects respectively. Insecticides are used in agriculture, medicine, industry and the household. The use of insecticides is believed to be one of the major factors behind the increase in agricultural productivity in the 20th century[1]. Nearly all insecticides have the potential to significantly alter ecosystems; many are toxic to humans; and others are concentrated in the food chain.
Contents |
Classes of agricultural insecticides
The classification of insecticides is done in several different ways:
- Systemic insecticides are incorporated by treated plants. Insects ingest the insecticide while feeding on the plants.
- Contact insecticides are toxic to insects brought into direct contact. Efficacy is often related to the quality of pesticide application, with small droplets (such as aerosols) often improving performance[2].
- Natural insecticides, such as nicotine, pyrethrum and neem extracts are made by plants as defences against insects. Nicotine based insecticides have been barred in the U.S. since 2001 to prevent residues from contaminating foods.[3]
- Inorganic insecticides are manufactured with metals and include arsenates copper- and fluorine compounds, which are now seldom used, and sulfur, which is commonly used.
- Organic insecticides are synthetic chemicals which comprise the largest numbers of pesticides available for use today.
- Mode of action – how the pesticide kills or inactivates a pest – is another way of classifying insecticides. Mode of action is important in predicting whether an insecticide will be toxic to unrelated species such as fish, birds and mammals.
Heavy metals, e.g. arsenic have been used as insecticides; they are poisonous and very rarely used now by farmers.
Organochlorine compounds
The insecticidal properties of the best known representative of this class of insecticides, DDT, was made by the Swiss Scientist Paul Műller. For this discovery, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine in 1948. DDT was introduced on the market in 1944. With the rise of the modern chemical industry it was possible to make chlorinated hydrocarbons. DDT works by opening the sodium channels in the nerve cells of the insect.
Organophosphates
The next large class developed was the organophosphates, which bind to acetylcholinesterase and other cholinesterases. This results in disruption of nervous impulses, killing the insect or interfering with its ability to carry on normal functions. Organophosphate insecticides and chemical warfare nerve agents (such as sarin, tabun, soman and VX) work in the same way. Organophosphates have an additive toxic effect to wildlife, so multiple exposures to the chemicals amplifies the toxicity.[4]
Carbamates
Carbamate insecticides have similar toxic mechanisms to organophospahtes, but have a much shorter duration of action and are thus somewhat less toxic.
Pyrethroids
To mimic the insecticidal activity of the natural compound pyrethrum another class of pesticides, pyrethroid pesticides, have been developed. These are nonpersistent and much less acutely toxic than organophosphates and carbamates. Compounds in this group are often applied against household pests.
Neonicotinoids
Neonicotinoids are synthetic analogues of the natural insecticide nicotine (with a much lower acute mammalian toxicity and greater field persistence). Broad-spectrum – systemic insecticides with a rapid action (minutes-hours). They are applied as sprays, drenches, seed and soil treatments – often as substitutes for organophosphates and carbamates. Treated insects exhibit leg tremors, rapid wing motion, stylet withdrawal (aphids), disorientated movement, paralysis and death.
Biological insecticides
Recent efforts to reduce broad spectrum toxins added to the environment have brought biological insecticides back into vogue. An example is the development and increase in use of Bacillus thuringiensis, a bacterial disease of Lepidopterans and some other insects. It is used as a larvicide against a wide variety of caterpillars. Because it has little effect on other organisms, it is considered more environmentally friendly than synthetic pesticides. The toxin from B. thuringiensis (Bt toxin) has been incorporated directly into plants through the use of genetic engineering. Other biological insecticides include products based on entomopathogenic fungi (e.g. Metarhizium anisopliae), nematodes (e.g. Steinernema feltiae) and viruses (e.g. Cydia pomonella granulovirus).
Antifeedants
Many plants have evolved substances like polygodial, which prevents insects from eating, but does not kill them directly. The insect often remains nearby, where it dies of starvation. Since antifeedants are nontoxic they would be ideal as insecticides in agriculture. Much agrochemical research is devoted to make them cheap enough for commercial use.
Environmental effects
Effects on nontarget species
Some insecticides kill or harm other creatures in addition to those they are intended to kill. For example, birds may be poisoned when they eat food that was recently sprayed with insecticides or when they mistake insecticide granules on the ground for food and eat it.[4]
Sprayed insecticides may drift from the area to which it is applied and into wildlife areas, especially when it is sprayed aerially.[4]
DDT
Main article: DDT
One of the bigger drivers in the development of new insecticides has been the desire to replace toxic and irksome insecticides. DDT was introduced as a safer alternative to the lead and arsenic compounds.
Some insecticides have been banned due to the fact that they are persistent toxins which have adverse effects on animals and/or humans. An oft-quoted case is that of DDT, an example of a widely used (and maybe misused) pesticide, which was brought to public attention by Rachel Carson's book, Silent Spring. One of the better known impacts of DDT is to reduce the thickness of the egg shells on predatory birds. The shells sometimes become too thin to be viable, causing reductions in bird populations. This occurs with DDT and a number of related compounds due to the process of bioaccumulation, wherein the chemical, due to its stability and fat solubility, accumulates in organisms' fatty tissues. Also, DDT may biomagnify which causes progressively higher concentrations in the body fat of animals farther up the food chain. The near-worldwide ban on agricultural use of DDT and related chemicals has allowed some of these birds—such as the peregrine falcon--to recover in recent years. A number of the organochlorine pesticides have been banned from most uses worldwide and globally they are controlled via the Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants. These include: aldrin, chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, mirex and toxaphene.
Pollinator decline
Insecticides can kill bees and may be a cause of pollinator decline, the loss of bees that pollinate plants, and Colony Collapse Disorder[5], in which worker bees from a beehive or Western honey bee colony abruptly disappear. Loss of pollinators will mean a reduction in crop yields.[5] Sublethal doses of insecticides (i.e. imidacloprid and other neonicotinoids) affect foraging behavior of bees.[6]. However, research into the causes of Colony Collapse Disorder remains inconclusive.[7]
Individual insecticides
Chlorinated hydrocarbons
See also: :Category:Organochloride insecticides
Aldrin - Chlordane - Chlordecone - DDT - Dieldrin - Endosulfan - Endrin - Heptachlor - Hexachlorobenzene - Lindane (gamma-Hexachlorocyclohexane) - Methoxychlor - Mirex - Pentachlorophenol - TDE
Organophosphates
Acephate - Azinphos-methyl - Bensulide - Chlorethoxyfos - Chlorpyrifos - Chlorpyriphos-methyl - Diazinon - Dichlorvos (DDVP) - Dicrotophos - Dimethoate - Disulfoton - Ethoprop - Fenamiphos - Fenitrothion - Fenthion - Fosthiazate - Malathion - Methamidophos - Methidathion - Mevinphos - Naled - Omethoate - Oxydemeton-methyl - Parathion - Parathion-methyl - Phorate - Phosalone - Phosmet - Phostebupirim - Phoxim - Pirimiphos-methyl - Profenofos - Terbufos - Tetrachlorvinphos - Tribufos - Trichlorfon
Carbamates
Aldicarb - Carbofuran - Carbaryl - Fenoxycarb - Methomyl - 2-(1-Methylpropyl)phenyl methylcarbamate
Phenothiazine
Pyrethroids
Allethrin - Bifenthrin - Cypermethrin - Deltamethrin - Lambda-cyhalothrin - Permethrin - Resmethrin - Tetramethrin - Tralomethrin - Transfluthrin
Neonicotinoids
Acetamiprid - Clothianidin - Imidacloprid - Nitenpyram - Nithiazine - Thiacloprid - Thiamethoxam
Plant derived
- Anabasine
- Anethole (mosquito larvae)[8]
- Annonin
- Asimina (Pawpaw tree seeds) for lice
- Azadirachtin
- Caffeine
- Carapa
- Cinnamaldehyde (very effective for killing mosquito larvae)[9]
- Cinnamon leaf oil (very effective for killing mosquito larvae)[8]
- Cinnamyl acetate (kills mosquito larvae)[8]
- Deguelin
- Derris
- Derris (rotenone)
- Desmodium caudatum (leaves and roots)
- Eugenol (mosquito larvae)[8]
- Linalool
- Myristicin
- Neem (Azadirachtin)
- Nicotiana rustica (Nicotine)
- Peganum harmala, seeds (smoke from), root
- Oregano oil kills beetles Rhizoppertha dominica[10] (bug found in stored cereal)
- Polyketide
- Pyrethrum
- Quassia (South American plant genus)
- Tetranortriterpenoid
- Thymol (controls varroa mites in bee colonies)[11]
Other
See also
References
- ^ van Emden HF, Pealall DB (1996) Beyond Silent Spring, Chapman & Hall, London, 322pp.
- ^ dropdata.org
- ^ "pmep.cce.cornell.edu/profiles/insect-mite/mevinphos-propargite/nicotine/nicotine_tol_1201.html". http://pmep.cce.cornell.edu/profiles/insect-mite/mevinphos-propargite/nicotine/nicotine_tol_1201.html.
- ^ a b c Palmer, WE, Bromley, PT, and Brandenburg, RL. Wildlife & pesticides - Peanuts. North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service. Retrieved on 2007-10-14.
- ^ a b Wells M (March 11, 2007). "Vanishing bees threaten US crops". www.bbc.co.uk (BBC News). http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6438373.stm. Retrieved 2007-09-19.
- ^ Colin, M. E.; Bonmatin, J. M.; Moineau, I., et al. 2004. A method to quantify and analyze the foraging activity of honey bees: Relevance to the sublethal effects induced by systemic insecticides. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology Volume: 47 Issue: 3 Pages: 387–395
- ^ [1] Oldroyd BP (2007) What's Killing American Honey Bees? PLoS Biology 5(6): e168 doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0050168) Retrieved on 2007-05-17.
- ^ a b c d "Cinnamon Oil Kills Mosquitoes". www.sciencedaily.com. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/07/040716081706.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
- ^ "Cornelia Dick-Pfaff: Wohlriechender Mückentod, 19.07.2004". http://www.wissenschaft.de/wissen/news/243037.html.
- ^ "Oregano Oil Works As Well As Synthetic Insecticides To Tackle Common Beetle Pest". www.sciencedaily.com. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080522072339.htm. Retrieved 2008-05-23.
- ^ "Almond farmers seek healthy bees". http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4780034.stm.
External links
- International Pesticide Application Research Centre (IPARC)
- Pestworld.org – Official site of the National Pest Management Association
 |
Look up insecticide in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
- Classification of insecticides
- Streaming online video about efforts to reduce insecticide use in rice in Bangladesh. on Windows Media Player, on Real Player
- How Insecticides Work – Has a thorough explanation on how insecticides work.
- University of California Integrated pest management program
- Using Insecticides, Michigan State University Extension
- Example of Insecticide application in the Tsubo-en Zen garden (Japanese dry rock garden) in Lelystad, The Netherlands.
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
| Translations: Insecticide |
Dansk (Danish)
n. - insektgift, sprøjtemiddel
Nederlands (Dutch)
insecticide, verdelgingsmiddel
Français (French)
n. - insecticide
Deutsch (German)
n. - Insektizid, Insektenvertilgungsmittel
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - εντομοκτόνο
Italiano (Italian)
insetticida
Português (Portuguese)
n. - inseticida (m)
Español (Spanish)
n. - insecticida
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - insektsmedel, insekticid
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
杀虫剂
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 殺蟲劑
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) مبيد الحشرات
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - מדביר חרקים
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