Insecticide, any toxic substance that is used to kill insects.

Such
substances are used primarily to control pests that infest cultivatedplants
or to eliminate disease-carrying insects in specific areas.
Insecticides can be classified in any of several ways, on the basis of
their chemistry, their toxicological action, or their mode of penetration. In
the latter scheme, they are classified according to whether they take
effect upon ingestion (stomach poisons), inhalation (fumigants), or upon
penetration of the body covering (contact poisons).Most syntheticorganic
insecticides penetrate by all three of these pathways, however, and
hence are better distinguished from each other by their basic chemistry.
Besides the synthetic organics, some organic compounds occurring
naturally in plants are useful insecticides, as are some
inorganic compounds. Most insecticides are sprayed or dusted onto
plants and other surfaces traversed or fed upon by insects.
Modes Of Penetration
Stomach poisons are toxic only if ingested through the mouth and are most
useful against those insects that have biting or chewing mouth parts, such as
caterpillars, beetles, and grasshoppers. The chief stomach poisons are
the arsenicals—e.g., Paris green (copper acetoarsenite), leadarsenate, and
calcium arsenate; and the fluorine compounds, among them sodium fluoride and
cryolite. They are applied as sprays or dusts onto the leaves and stems of plants
eaten by the target insects. Stomach poisons have gradually been replaced by
synthetic organic insecticides, which are less dangerous to humans and other
mammals.
Contact poisons penetrate the skin of the pest and are used against those
arthropods, such as aphids, that pierce the surface of a plant and suck out the
juices. The contact insecticides can be divided into two main groups: naturally
occurring compounds and synthetic organic ones. The naturally occurring
contact insecticides include nicotine, developed from tobacco; pyrethrum,
obtained from flowers of Chrysanthemum cinerariaefolium; rotenone, from the
roots of Derrisspecies and related plants; and oils, from petroleum. Though
these compounds were originally derived mainly from plant extracts, the toxic
agents of some of them (e.g., pyrethrins) have been synthesized. Natural
insecticides are usually short-lived on plants and cannot provide protection
against prolonged invasions. Except for pyrethrum, they have largely been
replaced by newer synthetic organic insecticides.
Fumigants are toxic compounds that enter the respiratory system of
the insect through its spiracles, or breathing openings. They include such
chemicals as hydrogen cyanide, naphthalene, nicotine, and methyl bromide and
are used mainly for killing insect pests of stored products or for fumigating
nursery stock.
Synthetic Insecticides
The synthetic contact insecticides are now the primary agents of insect control.
In general they penetrate insects readily and are toxic to a wide range of species.
The main synthetic groups are the chlorinated hydrocarbons, organic phosphates
(organophosphates), and carbamates.

Chlorinated hydrocarbons
The chlorinated hydrocarbons were developed beginning in the 1940s after the
discovery (1939) of the insecticidal properties of DDT. Other examples of this
series are BHC, lindane, Chlorobenzilate, methoxychlor, and the cyclodienes
(which include aldrin, dieldrin, chlordane, heptachlor, and endrin). Some of
these compounds are quite stable and have a long residual action; they are,
therefore, particularly valuable where protection is required for long periods.
Their toxic action is not fully understood, but they are known to disrupt
the nervous system.
Organophosphates
The organophosphates are now the largest and most versatile class of
insecticides. Two widely used compounds in this class are parathion and
malathion; others are Diazinon, naled, methyl parathion, and dichlorvos. They
are especially effective against sucking insects such as aphids and mites, which
feed on plant juices. The chemicals’ absorption into the plant is achieved either
by spraying the leaves or by applying solutions impregnated with the chemicals
to the soil, so that intake occurs through the roots. The organophosphates
usually have little residual action and are important, therefore, where residual
tolerances limit the choice of insecticides. They are generally much more toxic
than the chlorinated hydrocarbons. Organophosphates kill insects
by inhibitingthe enzyme cholinesterase, which is essential in the functioning of
the nervous system.
Carbamates
The carbamates are a relatively new group of insecticides that includes such
compounds as carbamyl, methomyl, and carbofuran. They are rapidly detoxified
and eliminated from animal tissues. Their toxicity is thought to arise from a
mechanism somewhat similar to that for the organophosphates.
Environmental Contamination And Resistance
The advent of synthetic organic insecticides in the mid-20th century made the
control of insects and other arthropod pests much more effective, and such
chemicals remain essential in modern agriculture despite their environmental
drawbacks. By preventing crop losses, raising the quality of produce, and
lowering the cost of farming, modern insecticides increased crop yields by as
much as 50 percent in some regions of the world in the period 1945–65. They
have also been important in improving the health of both humans and domestic
animals; malaria, yellow fever, and typhus, among other infectious diseases,
have been greatly reduced in many areas of the world through their use.
But the use of insecticides has also resulted in several serious problems, chief
among them environmental contamination and the development of resistance in
pest species. Because insecticides are poisonouscompounds, they may adversely
affect other organisms besides harmful insects. The accumulation of some
insecticides in the environment can in fact pose a serious threat to both wildlife
and humans. Many insecticides are short-lived or are metabolized by the
animals that ingest them, but some are persistent, and when applied in large
amounts they pervade the environment. When an insecticide is applied, much of
it reaches the soil, and groundwater can also become contaminated from direct
application or runoff from treated areas. The main soil contaminants are the
chlorinated hydrocarbons such as DDT, aldrin, dieldrin, heptachlor, and BHC.
Owing to repeated sprayings, these chemicals can accumulate in soils in
surprisingly large amounts (10–100 pounds per acre), and their effect on
wildlife is greatly increased as they become associated with food chains. The
stability of DDT and its relatives leads to their accumulation in the bodily
tissues of insects that constitute the diet of other animals higher up the food
chain, with toxic effects on the latter. Birds of prey such as eagles, hawks, and
falcons are usually most severely affected, and serious declines in their
populations have been traced to the effects of DDT and its relatives.
Consequently, the use of such chemicals began to be restricted in the 1960s and
banned outright in the 1970s in many countries.
Cases of insecticide poisoning of humans also occur occasionally, and the use of
one common organophosphate, parathion, was drastically curtailed in the United
States in 1991 owing to its toxic effects on farm labourers who were directly
exposed to it.
Another problem with insecticides is the tendency of some target insect
populations to develop resistance as their susceptible members are killed off and
those resistant strains that survive multiply, eventually perhaps to form a
majority of the population. Resistance denotes a formerly susceptible insect
population that can no longer be controlled by a pesticide at normally
recommended rates. Hundreds of species of harmful insects have acquired
resistance to different synthetic organic pesticides, and strains that become
resistant to one insecticide may also be resistant to a second that has a similar
mode of action to the first. Once resistance has developed, it tends to persist in
the absence of the pesticide for varying amounts of time, depending on the type
of resistance and the species of pest. Insecticides may also encourage the growth
of harmful insect populations by eliminating the natural enemies that previously
held them in check. The nonspecific nature of broad-spectrum chemicals makes
them more likely to have such unintended effects on the abundance of both
harmful and beneficialinsects.
Because of the problems associated with the heavy use of some chemical
insecticides, current insect-control practice combines their use with biological
methods in an approach called integrated control. In this approach, a minimal
use of insecticide may be combined with the use of pest-resistant crop varieties;
the use of crop-raising methods that inhibitpest proliferation; the release of
organisms that are predators or parasites of the pest species; and the disruption
of the pest’s reproduction by the release of sterilized pests.