Diflubenzuron is an

insecticide Insecticides are substances used to kill insects. They include ovicides and larvicides used against insect eggs and larvae, respectively. Insecticides are used in agriculture, medicine, industry and by consumers. Insecticides are claimed to b ...

of the

benzoylurea Benzoylureas are chemical derivatives of ''N''-benzoyl-''N′''-phenylurea (benzoylurea). They are best known for their use as insecticides. They act as insect growth regulators by inhibiting synthesis of chitin in the insect's body. One o ...

class. It is used in forest management and on field crops to selectively control insect pests, particularly forest tent caterpillar moths,

boll weevil The boll weevil (''Anthonomus grandis'') is a beetle that feeds on cotton buds and flowers. Thought to be native to Central Mexico, it migrated into the United States from Mexico in the late 19th century and had infested all U.S. cotton-growing ...

gypsy moth ''Lymantria dispar'', also known as the gypsy moth or the spongy moth, is a species of moth in the family Erebidae. ''Lymantria dispar'' is subdivided into several subspecies, with subspecies such as ''L. d. dispar'' and ''L. d. japonica'' bei ...

s, and other types of

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

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 meant to control pests. This includes herbicide, insecticide, nematicide, molluscicide, piscicide, avicide, rodenticide, bactericide, insect repellent, animal repellent, microbicide, fungicide, and lampri ...

Mechanism of action

The

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

of diflubenzuron involves inhibiting the production of

chitin Chitin ( C8 H13 O5 N)n ( ) is a long-chain polymer of ''N''-acetylglucosamine, an amide derivative of glucose. Chitin is probably the second most abundant polysaccharide in nature (behind only cellulose); an estimated 1 billion tons of chit ...

which is used by an insect to build its

exoskeleton An exoskeleton (from Greek ''éxō'' "outer" and ''skeletós'' "skeleton") is an external skeleton that supports and protects an animal's body, in contrast to an internal skeleton (endoskeleton) in for example, a human. In usage, some of the ...

. 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 executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...

(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 substance, radionuclide, or radiation that promotes carcinogenesis (the formation of cancer). This may be due to the ability to damage the genome or to the disruption of cellular metabolic processes. Several radioactive substan ...

, 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 Sciaroide ...

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 ''Euphorbia'' is a very large and diverse genus of flowering plants, commonly called spurge, in the family Euphorbiaceae. "Euphorbia" is sometimes used in ordinary English to collectively refer to all members of Euphorbiaceae (in deference to t ...

family and certain types of begonia, particularly

poinsettias The poinsettia ( or ) (''Euphorbia pulcherrima'') is a commercially important flowering plant species of the diverse spurge family Euphorbiaceae. Indigenous to Mexico and Central America, the poinsettia was first described by Europeans in 1834 ...

hibiscus ''Hibiscus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae. The genus is quite large, comprising several hundred species that are native to warm temperate, subtropical and tropical regions throughout the world. Member species ...

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 Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without Right, legal authority. A vigilante (from Spanish, Italian and Portuguese “vigilante”, which means "sentinel" or "watcher") is a pers ...

, it is formulated as a bolus and is used to control fly populations.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Diflubenzuron Insecticides Benzamides Ureas Chlorobenzenes Fluoroarenes Insect control Agricultural chemicals Biocides