Role of neonicotinoids in insect pest management: A review
Ajaz Ahmad Kundoo, Showket Ahmad Dar, Muntazir Mushtaq, Zaffar Bashir, Mohammad Saleem Dar, Shaheen Gul, Mohammad Tawseef Ali and Shammema Gulzar
Neonicotinoids are the most widely used insecticides in the world. They are systemic in action, travelling through plant tissues and protecting all parts of the crop, and are widely applied as seed dressings. Neonicotinoids are registered globally in more than 120 countries and found to be effective against sucking pests. In terms of area treated almost 90% of the use is as seed treatments. Some of these active substances are approved for use as seed treatments (clothianidin), some as foliar applications (acetimiprid and thiacloprid) and some for both (imidacloprid and thiamethoxam). They are nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonists; they bind strongly to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) in the central nervous system of insects, causing nervous stimulation at low concentrations, but receptor blockage, paralysis and death at higher concentrations. Neonicotinoids bind more strongly to insect nAChRs than to those of vertebrates, so they are selectively more toxic to insects; and present no hazard to mammals; they provide effective pest control and have numerous uses in arable farming and horticulture. They provide an alternative mode of action to organophosphate, carbamates and pyrethroid insecticides. This allows them to play a key role in helping to prevent the buildup of resistance in the pests concerned. These show higher efficacy and used at a lower dosage as compared to other conventional insecticides. There is absence of cross-resistance in neonicotinoids with pyrethroids, carbamates, organophosphates and organochlorines.
Ajaz Ahmad Kundoo, Showket Ahmad Dar, Muntazir Mushtaq, Zaffar Bashir, Mohammad Saleem Dar, Shaheen Gul, Mohammad Tawseef Ali, Shammema Gulzar. Role of neonicotinoids in insect pest management: A review. J Entomol Zool Stud 2018;6(1):333-339.