Carbamates

What do they treat?

√ Premises flies

For controlling adult nuisance flies in and around animal facilities.

How can they be administered?

A variety of application methods for administering pesticide products to cattle are in use.

√ Spray √ Paint √ Granules

Resistance

Reported in: √ House flies (detected overseas, uncertain in Australia)

What is resistance?

Safety

Everyone working in the rural industry has a ‘duty of care’; a legal obligation to provide a safe workplace for everyone on the property.

• Carbamates are considered moderately toxic.
• They may be absorbed through the skin as well as by ingestion and inhalation.
• Carbamates are not generally persistent in the environment and break down within weeks or months.

Withholding periods are mandatory with all registered veterinary products used to treat animals for

Types of carbamate

A guide to the different chemical actives and the pests they affect are in Table 1. See choosing and using products for the premises for advice on the appropriate formulation and application method for your target pest.

Table 1. Carbamates, their actives and targeted parasites for which formulations are registered for.

*IRAC Mode of Action group 1A

What are they?

Carbamates were originally extracted from the calabar bean, which grows in West Africa. Current carbamate insecticides are synthetically manufactured derivatives of carbamic acid.

How do they work?

Bendiocarb and methomyl are both broad spectrum insecticides that kill flies either by contact or ingestion. These products are mostly used as baits to quickly reduce fly numbers in areas people are working.

Carbamates are very similar to organophosphate insecticides in their mode of action by inhibiting acetylcholinesterase, a neurotransmission enzyme, producing neurotoxic effects in insects.