Lufenuron is the

active ingredient An active ingredient is any ingredient that provides biologically active or other direct effect in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease or to affect the structure or any function of the body of humans or animals. The ...

in the

veterinary Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutri ...

flea Flea, the common name for the order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species of small flightless insects that live as external parasites of mammals and birds. Fleas live by ingesting the blood of their hosts. Adult fleas grow to about long, a ...

control medication Program, and one of the two active ingredients in the flea,

heartworm ''Dirofilaria immitis'', also known as heartworm or dog heartworm, is a parasitic roundworm that is a type of filarial worm, a small thread-like worm, that causes dirofilariasis. It is spread from host to host through the bites of mosquitoe ...

, ringworm and

anthelmintic Anthelmintics or antihelminthics are a group of antiparasitic drugs that expel parasitic worms (helminths) and other internal parasites from the body by either stunning or killing them and without causing significant damage to the host. They may ...

medicine milbemycin oxime/lufenuron (Sentinel). Lufenuron is stored in the animal's body

fat In nutrition, biology, and chemistry, fat usually means any ester of fatty acids, or a mixture of such compounds, most commonly those that occur in living beings or in food. The term often refers specifically to triglycerides (triple est ...

and transferred to adult fleas through the host's blood when they feed. Adult fleas transfer it to their growing eggs through their blood, and to hatched larvae feeding on their excrement. It does not kill adult fleas. Lufenuron, a

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 ...

pesticide, inhibits the production of chitin in insects. Without chitin, a larval flea will never develop a hard outer shell (

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 ...

). With its inner organs exposed to air, the insect dies from dehydration soon after hatching or molting (shedding its old, smaller shell). Lufenuron is also used to fight

fungal A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from th ...

infections, since fungus cell walls are about one third chitin. Lufenuron is also sold as an agricultural pesticide for use against lepidopterans, eriophyid mites, and

western flower thrips The western flower thrips 'Frankliniella occidentalis'' (Pergande)is an invasive pest insect in agriculture. This species of thrips is native to the Southwestern United States but has spread to other continents, including Europe, Australia (wher ...

. It is an effective antifungal in plants.

References

External links

* {{PPDB, 420 Veterinary drugs Insecticides Ureas Antifungals Chloroarenes Organofluorides Phenol ethers Benzamides Dog medications Fungicides Fluoroarenes Trifluoromethyl compounds