Diflubenzuron is an

insecticide Insecticides are pesticides used to kill insects. They include ovicides and larvicides used against insect eggs and larvae, respectively. The major use of insecticides is in agriculture, but they are also used in home and garden settings, i ...

of the benzoylurea class. It is used in forest management and on field crops to selectively control insect pests, particularly forest tent caterpillar moths, boll weevils, gypsy moths, and other types of

moth Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (s ...

s. It is a widely used larvicide in India for control of mosquito larvae by public health authorities. Diflubenzuron is approved by the

WHO Pesticide Evaluation Scheme Pesticides are substances that are used to pest control, control pest (organism), pests. They include herbicides, insecticides, nematicides, fungicides, and many others (see table). The most common of these are herbicides, which account for a ...

Mechanism of action

The

mechanism of action In pharmacology, the term mechanism of action (MOA) refers to the specific biochemical Drug interaction, interaction through which a Medication, drug substance produces its pharmacological effect. A mechanism of action usually includes mention o ...

of diflubenzuron involves inhibiting the production of

chitin Chitin (carbon, C8hydrogen, H13oxygen, O5nitrogen, N)n ( ) is a long-chain polymer of N-Acetylglucosamine, ''N''-acetylglucosamine, an amide derivative of glucose. Chitin is the second most abundant polysaccharide in nature (behind only cell ...

which is used by an insect to build its

exoskeleton An exoskeleton () . is a skeleton that is on the exterior of an animal in the form of hardened integument, which both supports the body's shape and protects the internal organs, in contrast to an internal endoskeleton (e.g. human skeleton, that ...

. It triggers insect larvae to molt early without a properly formed exoskeleton, resulting in the death of the larvae.

Environmental toxicity

Diflubenzuron has been evaluated by the

United States Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it began operation on De ...

(EPA), and it is classified as non-carcinogenic. 4-Chloroaniline, a metabolite of diflubenzuron which has been classified as a

carcinogen A carcinogen () is any agent that promotes the development of cancer. Carcinogens can include synthetic chemicals, naturally occurring substances, physical agents such as ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, and biologic agents such as viruse ...

, is produced after diflubenzuron has been ingested. The small amount converted to 4-chloroaniline after ingestion is not sufficient to cause cancer.

Commercial uses

A commercial preparation containing diflubenzuron is sold under the trade name Adept and is used as an insect growth regulator designed to kill

fungus gnat Fungus gnats are small, dark, short-lived gnats, of the families Sciaridae, Diadocidiidae, Ditomyiidae, Keroplatidae, Bolitophilidae, and Mycetophilidae (order Diptera); they comprise six of the seven families placed in the superfamily Sc ...

larvae in commercial greenhouses. It is applied to infected soil and will kill fungus gnat larvae for 30–60 days from a single application. Although it is targeted at fungus gnat larvae, care should be taken in applying it as it is highly toxic to most aquatic invertebrates. It has no toxic effects on adult insects, only insect larvae are affected. Diflubenzuron can cause serious foliar injury to plants in the spurge family and certain types of begonia, particularly poinsettias,

hibiscus ''Hibiscus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the Malva, mallow family, Malvaceae. The genus is quite large, comprising List of Hibiscus species, several hundred species that are Native plant, native to warm temperate, Subtropics, subtropical ...

and reiger begonia and should not be applied to these plant varieties. Diflubenzuron is used as a larvicide in the cattle farming industry. Sold under the name Vigilante, it is formulated as a bolus and is used to control fly populations.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Diflubenzuron Insecticides Benzamides Ureas 4-Chlorophenyl compounds Fluoroarenes Agricultural chemicals Biocides