Hydramethylnon's powerful delayed-action makes it an ideal active ingredient for bait products.
While traditional insecticides such as organophosphates, carbamates and pyrethroids affect the nervous system and quickly produce hyperexcitation and convulsions, hydramethylnon works gradually as a metabolic poison.

After a single feeding by target insects, there are no immediate symptoms of poisoning.
Within a few hours, however, the insects become lethargic and stop eating.
This condition progresses until the insects die within 24 to 72 hours.

Hydramethylnon causes death by inhibiting the formation of ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate).
ATP provides the energy necessary for completing most biological processes.
without the formation of ATP, insects simply run out of gas.

The Killing Power of Hydramethylnon
Hydramethylnon is most active against energetic insects, and its speed of kill increases with an increase in temperature and insect activity.
Insects have shown no signs of resistance to hydramethylnon.

Years of research demonstrate that hydramethylnon is one of the most effective active ingredients for roach and ant baits.

Here's why:

Efficacy

Hydramethylnon controls target insects with a single feeding. It is effective in the control of
roaches and ants because both insects serve as carriers of the active ingredient to harborages and colonies.

Cockroaches are coprophagous, which means they eat their own feces and the feces of other roaches.
They are also cannibalistic, which means they feed on each other. After consuming a lethal dose of bait, cockroaches return to the harborage where they excrete feces containing hydramethylnon. As other cockroaches consume the contaminated feces, they too receive a lethal dose. When the roaches die, other roaches may consume their carcass and die as well. Tests have documented that this can result in one cockroach causing the death of up to 44 other cockroaches. Ants carry hydramethylnon bait back to the colony where the larvae digest the solid bait and regurgitate it as a liquid to feed the queen(s) and the rest of the colony.
The delayed-action of hydramethylnon works well with this behavior because it allows foraging
workers to return to the colony with the bait before they are killed.

Bait Acceptance

This is the most important feature in any bait.
In test after test, insects are unable to detect the hydramethylnon in the bait.
When mixed with inert ingredients that attract insects, it is the perfect active ingredient for use in a bait because it does not repel target insects.

Low Toxicity to Mammals

While hydramethylnon is very effective against target insects, it has low toxicity to non-target animals.
The MAXFORCE® active ingredient, hydramethylnon, has a high LD50 value of 1300 mg/kg.
(The higher the LD50 value, the lower the toxicity.)
Ready-to-use bait formulations of hydramethylnon are practically non-toxic by ingestion.
(The oral LD50 value of MAXFORCE® baits is greater than 5000 mg/kg.)
For example, a 35 pound dog would have to eat the bait in 14 syringes of MAXFORCE® gel, or approximately 600 small roach or ant bait stations, to receive a lethal dose.
Hydramethylnon also has a very low vapor pressure resulting in low volatility, which significantly reduces the
risk of airborne residues.