Compositions and methods for controlling insects

Abstract

Compositions and methods for controlling the population of insects are disclosed. The compositions include a feeding stimulant for a particular insect, an effective amount of a 1-arylpyrazole or nicotinyl insecticide to kill an desired insect, at a concentration which is not typically toxic when applied to a plant in the absence of a feeding stimulant and the insect consumes an ordinary amount of toxin during the course of normal feeding, but is toxic when applied in conjunction with a feeding stimulant which causes the insect to consume more of the toxin than would normally be consumed during normal feeding. The use of normally non-toxic amounts of insecticides allows one to minimize the residual insecticide present on the crops. Also, by using a selective feeding stimulant along with a normally non-lethal concentration of insecticide, beneficial insects which are not attracted to the feeding stimulant are not effectively killed off, and detrimental insects which are attracted to the feeding stimulant are effectively killed off.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.