Imidacloprid 20% SL

A systemic Insecticide
Imidacloprid is taken up by plant roots and diffuses in the plant via the xylem; its systemic properties then rely on insects ingesting the Insecticide (e.g., by sucking plant fluids). Imidacloprid are intended for application via irrigation, application to the soil, or on foliage.

Seed-applied Insecticides are often used to deal with numerous insects, as they are easy to use and comparable in cost to most traditional Insecticides used at sowing time. Some also indicate that Imidacloprid might be better for the environment because less chemical is required than for broadcast or banded applications, or at least because less chemical is sprayed in the air. However, some note that the use of seed-applied Insecticides at each season implies the chemical is used whether there is need to fight insects or not.
Imidacloprid is receiving increased attention as a possible factor in colony collapse disorder, a mysterious condition that causes sudden death of honey bee populations. Mass die-offs of bees threaten pollination of food crops in the USA and Europe.

Use:
The most widely used applications for Imidacloprid are pest control in structures, turf pest control, grape growing, and head and leaf lettuce growing.
Other widespread crop uses are rice, grains/cereals including corn (maize), potatoes, vegetables, sugar beets, fruit, cotton, and hops.
Target insects include sucking insects (e.g., aphids, whiteflies, leafhoppers and planthoppers, thrips, scales, mealybugs, bugs, psyllids, and phylloxera), beetles (e.g., longhorn beetles, leaf beetles, Colorado potato beetles, rice water-weevils, wireworms, grubs, and flea beetles), and others (e.g., lepidopterous leafminers, some diptera, termites, locusts, and fleas).

As an Insecticide spray, Imidacloprid is used on citrus, coffee, cotton, fruits, grapes, potatoes, rice, soybeans, sugarcane, tobacco and vegetables. Imidacloprid is also marketed for termite control, for flea control on pets, and for household cockroach control.

Imidacloprid works by interfering with the transmission of stimuli in the insect nervous system. Specifically, Imidacloprid causes a blockage in a type of neuronal pathway (nicotinergic) that is more abundant in insects than in warm-blooded animals (making the chemical selectively more toxic to insects than warm-blooded animals). This blockage leads to the accumulation of acetylcholine, an important neurotransmitter, resulting in the insect’s paralysis, and eventually death. Imidacloprid is effective on contact and via stomach action.

Imidacloprid based Insecticide formu-lations are available as dustable powder, granular, seed dressing (flowable slurry concentrate), soluble concentrate, suspension concentrate, and wettable powder. Typical application rates range from 0.05 - 0.125 pounds/acre. These application rates are considerably lower than older, traditionally used Insecticides. Imidacloprid can be phytotoxic if it is not used according to manufacturer’s specifications, and has been shown to be compatible with Fungicides when used as a seed treatment to control insect pests.