What type of insecticide requires the insect to touch a treated area to be effective?

Study for the Ontario Pesticide Training and Certification CORE Test. Prepare with multiple-choice questions, get hints and explanations. Ensure readiness for your certification!

Multiple Choice

What type of insecticide requires the insect to touch a treated area to be effective?

The key idea is how the insecticide reaches and affects the pest. If the product must be touched by the insect to work, it’s a contact (non-systemic) insecticide. These are formulated to kill when pests land on or touch residues on treated surfaces, acting at the point of contact rather than needing the chemical to be moved inside the plant or insect. Systemic insecticides, by contrast, are taken up and distributed within the plant or pest, so the pest must interact with treated tissue or ingest the chemical after uptake. Fumigants are gases that kill pests by exposure through the air, not by touching a surface, and repellents deter pests rather than rely on contact to kill.

The key idea is how the insecticide reaches and affects the pest. If the product must be touched by the insect to work, it’s a contact (non-systemic) insecticide. These are formulated to kill when pests land on or touch residues on treated surfaces, acting at the point of contact rather than needing the chemical to be moved inside the plant or insect.

Systemic insecticides, by contrast, are taken up and distributed within the plant or pest, so the pest must interact with treated tissue or ingest the chemical after uptake. Fumigants are gases that kill pests by exposure through the air, not by touching a surface, and repellents deter pests rather than rely on contact to kill.

More practice questions