Fumigants & Slugicides (Molluscicides) Lecture for Pesticide Usage Tom Kuhar Professor and Vegetable Entomology Specialist Department of Entomology, Virginia Tech Fumigation • Fumigation is a method of pest control that completely fills an area with gaseous pesticides “fumigants” to suffocate or poison the pests within. Fumigation is used for: • pests in buildings (structural fumigation) • soil pests • stored grain and produce • used during processing of goods to be imported or exported to prevent transfer of exotic organisms Common fumigants: Methyl Bromide = Bromomethane » Colorless, odorless, nonflammable gas » Produced via: CH3OH + HBr → CH3Br + H2O » Widely used as a soil sterilant (i.e., tomato, strawberry, etc.) » Phased out recently: Ozone-depleting chemical » Replaced by Methyl Iodide Soil fumigants: » Chloropicrin - broad-spectrum antimicrobial, fungicide, herbicide, insecticide, and nematicide: injected into the soil prior to planting » 1,3-Dichloropropene (vegetable crops) Soil fumigants often included together: MeBr, Chloropicrin, and 1,3- Dichloropropene Other fumigants: » Aluminum phosphide (grain bin fumigant) » Also similar fumigants: zinc phosphide and calcium phosphide Product names include: Celphos, Fostox, Fumitoxin, Phostek , Phostoxin, Quick Phos, Talunex , and Weevil-Cide » Phosphide reacts with water or acids to release phosphine gas AlP + 3 H2O → Al(OH)3 + PH3 Other fumigants: » Sulfuryl fluoride (Vikane) – home fumigation » Paradichlorobenzene (moth balls) » Napthalene (moth crystals) Slug Control Products Metaldehyde Baits Typically applied as slug pellets, which normally include a wheat bait. Metaldehyde acts on the pest by contact or ingestion, and the aqueous environment inside the pest's cells readily hydrolyzes metaldehyde into acetaldehyde, the molecule associated with an alcohol hangover. • Deadline M-Ps (Amvac) - 10-40 lbs/A • Metarex (Liphatech) –(extruded – steam process) -- 5-40 lbs/A • Axcela (Lonza) - new extrusion technique, gelatinized pellet Other Slug Control Products • Sluggo (Certis) – iron phosphate -federal and state label in DE - 20-44 lbs/A (OMRI Certified) • IronFist (Engage Agro/Neudorff) 2% Sodium Ferric EDTA (Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid – binds to metals) - wheat-based bait (2%) -- 10-40 lbs/A • Ferroxx (Neudorff) – 5% Sodium Ferric EDTA - 5-20 lbs/A • Lannate LV – (methomyl) - carbamate .