What are the chemicals used in pesticides and insecticides to prevent worms on crops?

Question

What are the chemicals used in pesticides and insecticides to prevent worms on crops?

Answer 1

Without knowing the specific pest you wish to control, I cannot offer a definitive answer.  The chemicals are many and varied, are pest specific, and are listed on the container.  In the USA Federal Law requires the listing of the active ingredient, its method of use and its concentration, for all inorganic pesticides and insecticides, on the container in which it is sold.  Organic pesticide and insecticide controls have a different set of rules and the ingredients may or may not be listed depending on the ingredients, but the method of use must be listed.  The company producing the inorganic control must also make available instructions for safe handling and usage.  It is incumbent of the user to contact the manufacturer for the environmental impact information.  In my experience, most companies reply promptly and courteously.

Answer 2

A pesticide may be a chemical substance, biological agent (such as a virus or bacteria), antimicrobial, disinfectant or device used against pests including insects, plant pathogens, weeds, mollusks, birds, mammals, fish, nematodes (roundworms) and microbes that compete with humans for food, destroy property, spread or are a vector for disease or are a nuisance. Many pesticides are poisonous to humans.

INSECTICIES

Heavy metals, eg lead, mercury, arsenic and plant toxins such as nicotine have been used for many years. Various plants have been used as folk insectides for centuries, including tobacco and pyrethrum.

Chlorine based agents, with the rise of the modern chemical industry it was possible for form organochlorides. The substances used in chemical warfare tend to be more potent electrophiles than those used as insecticides. For instance mustard gas (sulfur mustard, HD) is a potent alklating agent which uses neighbouring group participation of the sulfur to make the alkyl chloride a stronger electrophile. An organochlorine insecticide such as DDT or lindane does not directly kill the insect. It is likely that the chlorine is used to tune the lipophilicity of the compound, and to alter the shape and electrostatic effects involved in the interactions of the insecticide and the biomolecules in the target organism. For instance DDT works by opening the sodium channels in the nerve cells of the insect.

Answer 3

There is a huge number of products out there falling into a number of classes. For informational purposes there is a huge amount of information on line is you type into "search" the following

agricultural pesticides worms (caterpillar) (larvae)

Everything is dependent on the crop, location, and time of year, not to mention the accurate identification of the pest (a must). For a research project there is a lot of information on line which is easy to find and you will get so much more out of it without (me) paraphrasing it. If you have a home garden problem there are a lot of self help web sites and books to help you sort out the problem, but without a lot of experience especially with food items, you need to get help with chemicals and that should be the last choice. For me, if I can't fix the problem with pheromone traps, or birds/ bats (houses and feeders attract them), or Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis is a larval/ adult stage active bacteria in short with an "LD" that is almost nonexistent) then I won't grow the crop (again) and I let it go. I have seen what happens to people with long term mild exposure and that is really awful. Acute poisoning has to be a nightmare. Pesticides generally first came about from experimentation done in Chemical warfare and Nerve gas. As a member of the military for many years, I know a lot about that also.

The info you need is available, to read about. But avoid chemicals. If you farm and you need help with a pest call your County Agriculture Extension Agent. Without a real extensive background in pesticides, don't use them, and if you have a background, then you know why not to use them.