Neonicotinoids

What do they treat?

√ Premises flies

For controlling premises flies including house flies, bushflies, lesser house flies, and sheep blowflies in animal housing, cattle feedlots, dairies and stables (in areas inaccessible to livestock).

Note: √ Very toxic to aquatic life. Potentially toxic to bees. May affect birds that eat treated insects.

How can they be administered?

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

√ Bait

Resistance

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

Avoid repetitive use of the same chemical group (Neonicotinoids belong to IRAC Mode of Action group 4A) to avoid the build-up of resistant individuals within populations.

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.

• Neonicotinoids are generally regarded as compounds of low toxicity to humans and mammals.

Withholding periods are mandatory with all registered veterinary products used to treat animals for internal and external parasites.

Types of neonicotinoids

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. Note combinations and mixtures of actives may improve treatment efficacy.

Table 1. Neonicotinoids, their actives and combinations and a summary of the targeted parasites for which formulations are registered for. Boxed check marks indicate the pest targeted by multiple actives.

*IRAC Mode of Action group 4A

What are they?

Neonicotinoids are water soluble insecticides derived from nicotine.

How do they work?

Neonicotinoids are a fast-acting group of pesticides that selectively act on the central nervous system of insects by binding to nicotinyl receptors causing disruption of normal nerve transmission within the insect’s central nervous system. This results in overstimulation of the nervous system leading to paralysis and death.

Neonicotinoids are absorbed via ingestion with lesser amounts absorbed across the insect cuticle through direct exposure.