Insecticide, any toxic substance that is used to kill insects. Such substances are used primarily to control pests that infest cultivated plants or to eliminate disease-carrying insects in specific areas.
Insecticides can be classified in any of several ways, on the basis of their chemistry, their toxicological action, or their mode of penetration. In the latter scheme, they are classified according to whether they take effect upon ingestion (stomach poisons), inhalation (fumigants), or upon penetration of the body covering (contact poisons). Most synthetic organic insecticides penetrate by all three of these pathways, however, and hence are better distinguished from each other by their basic chemistry. Besides the synthetic organics, some organic compounds occurring naturally in plants are useful insecticides, as are some inorganic compounds. Most insecticides are sprayed or dusted onto plants and other surfaces traversed or fed upon by insects.
Allen