Thiamethoxam: a second-generation neonicotinoid insecticide, with the market expected to grow rapidly.

Release Date:

2021-09-09

Thiamethoxam is a novel insecticide jointly developed by Bayer and Japan’s Takeda Pharmaceutical Company. It represents the second-generation neonicotinoid, following imidacloprid and clothianidin. Compared with the first generation, it boasts a broader spectrum of activity, higher efficacy, improved safety, and a longer residual effect, while exhibiting significantly reduced toxicity. As a highly effective, safe, and highly selective new‑generation insecticide, it offers numerous advantages: high efficiency, broad‑spectrum control, low application rates, low toxicity, prolonged residual activity, no phytotoxicity to crops, ease of use, and no cross‑resistance with conventional pesticides. With both systemic and translaminar action, it serves as another promising alternative to highly toxic organophosphate pesticides.

Advantages of Thiamethoxam

(1) Broader insecticidal spectrum: Thiamethoxam exhibits contact, stomach‑toxic, and systemic activity. It is widely used to control underground pests such as garlic maggots, root maggots, onion maggots, soil maggots, cutworms, and wireworms, as well as more than ten species of piercing‑sucking pests, including aphids, thrips, leafhoppers, whiteflies, tobacco whiteflies, and rice planthoppers.

(2) Long-lasting efficacy: Thiamethoxam is not readily leached from the soil. This results in slower degradation in the subsurface, higher utilization efficiency, and a longer residual activity compared to clothianidin and imidacloprid. According to experimental data, its residual efficacy can last up to 30 days when applied as a foliar spray and up to six months when used for soil treatment.

(3) High activity: Thiamethoxam is a neonicotinoid insecticide developed after imidacloprid and clothianidin. It primarily targets acetylcholine receptors in insects, exhibiting higher affinity for these receptors and greater insecticidal activity than imidacloprid. Its efficacy also surpasses that of clothianidin and imidacloprid, and it demonstrates some effectiveness against chewing‑mouthpart pests as well.

(4) Ease of use: Thiamethoxam exhibits strong systemic penetration and translocation, primarily exerting contact and stomach‑toxic effects. It can be applied not only by foliar spray but also through seed treatment, soil application, root drenching, root dipping, and root soaking, all of which deliver excellent insecticidal efficacy.

(5) Excellent safety: Thiamethoxam exhibits significantly reduced toxicity to non‑target insects and is safer for crops, ensuring greater peace of mind during application. It can be used on rice, vegetables, fruit trees, and other crops.

Single-dose formulations: The active ingredient content ranges from 0.06% to 50%, and they are primarily available as granules, suspensions, and water-dispersible granules.

The most common formulations are:

1) Bifenthrin·Thiamethoxam , with the cabbage yellow striped flea beetle as the primary target. A total of 15 registrations account for 17% of all mixed‑formulation approvals.

2) Pymetrozine·Thiamethoxam , with the rice planthopper as the primary target. A total of 10 registrations account for 11% of all mixed‑formulation registrations.

3) Flucythrinate·Thiamethoxam (This product has the potential to become a market hit in 2022.) Its primary targets include onion maggots, aphids, grubs, and other soil-dwelling pests. A total of 11 products are registered, accounting for 12% of all mixed‑formulation registrations.

4) Chlorfenapyr·Thiamethoxam , with the primary targets being onion maggots and thrips on Welsh onions, totaling four registrations, which account for 5% of all mixed‑formulation registrations.

5) Other mixed formulations are primarily registered for use in combination with products such as pyridaben, abamectin, flonicamid, chlorantraniliprole, and cartap, to broaden the insecticidal spectrum and enhance insecticidal activity.

Application Status

The spray direction is primarily used on rice, vegetables, fruit trees, and other crops to control pests belonging to the Hemiptera, Coleoptera, Diptera, and certain Lepidoptera orders, such as rice planthoppers, citrus psyllids, vegetable aphids, thrips, and flea beetles. Notably, it holds promising market prospects for controlling citrus psyllids.

In the field of soil treatment, it is primarily used in seed‑treatment formulations, the agrochemical‑fertilizer market, and the root‑maggot market.

1) Seed treatment agent , primarily used on peanut, wheat, and corn crops.

In 2020, the peanut seed‑treatment market experienced explosive growth, primarily driven by its effectiveness in controlling underground pests such as grubs, while also providing control of aboveground aphids and leafhoppers. More importantly, it promotes root development, offering a triple benefit. Thiamethoxam demonstrates significantly superior efficacy against grubs compared to clothianidin; this is because clothianidin exhibits strong water solubility and pronounced leaching, whereas peanut‑damaging underground pests typically emerge later in the season, demanding a longer residual activity. In contrast, thiamethoxam is less prone to degradation in the soil, resulting in a longer residual period and better overall performance than both clothianidin and imidacloprid.

Wheat seed treatments are targeted at aphids, which typically emerge in early winter; therefore, thiamethoxam—known for its strong systemic activity—is the preferred choice. Thiamethoxam currently dominates the wheat seed‑treatment market, while clothianidin holds a relatively small share.

2) Agrochemical and fertilizer market Currently, the primary market for pesticide‑fertilizer products is wheat, sugarcane, peanuts, and rice. As the use of chlorpyrifos‑based pesticide‑fertilizers has declined year by year across various markets, the future market potential for thiamethoxam is virtually limitless.

3) Root Maggot Market Primarily in specialized markets for cash crops such as chives and garlic, thiamethoxam, imidacloprid, and clothianidin all exhibit strong knockdown activity against adult onion thrips, with efficacy 5.75, 3.86, and 3.51 times that of abamectin, respectively. For second- and fourth-instar larvae, thiamethoxam demonstrates the highest toxicity, at 27.00 and 25.23 times that of abamectin, respectively. Currently, the mainstream formulation is cyantraniliprole plus thiamethoxam, which is steadily gaining market share.

Source: Agricultural Inputs Herald Pesticides

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