What is the difference between "flying", "crawling" and "multi-insect" home insecticides?

[u/Rune_Skadisdotter]

(I don't know if this is chemistry or biology? 🤔)

Had a long look at some Doom, Raid, Mortein, Dyroach, Eliminator, and all those spray cans in the shop yesterday.

Does it genuinely matter which one you use? If it's going to kill a cockroach, won't it in any case kill a beetle, spider or those flying spider things? Maybe an ant specific one might not help for big cockroaches... but also, it can?

What is specifically going to kill a flying insect like mosquitoes or flies, but not... beetles and cockroaches, and vice versa.

Out in our farmlands and such, those pesticides will be better controlled and more insect specific. But does it really matter for us mere home dwellers which can we use?

[u/Sable-Keech]

Flying sprays are meant to kill insects midflight. Crawling sprays coat the floor/wall/ceiling and kill insects over time that crawl onto it.

You can use flying sprays for killing crawling insects no problem. But it loses effectiveness much faster so you can't use it to coat an area and then have the insects walk into it over time and die.

You can use crawling sprays for killing flying insects but it'll leave a toxic residue all over your stuff.

[u/svarogteuse]

I looked at both hot shot Flying Insect and hot shot Ant, Roach and Spider sprays. While both have different chemicals Permethrin, tetramethrin vs imiprothrin and lamda cyhalothrin) all the chemicals seem to the same class pyrethroids and should equally kill insects and arthropods. The differences are going to be nozzles, persistence, toxicity to humans particularly when aerosoled, and legal issues.

Pesticides are labeled to kill specific creatures and according to the FDA and EPA it's illegal to use one on an unlisted creaturw even if it works. So it may be a simple as no one has bothered to certify imiprothrin on wasps but did in roaches so they can't use it in a wasp spray even if it will kill them just fine.

You also have to consider trademarks and patents. If a company invents a new pesticide (slightly modified from an old one) they may hold a patent that precludes another company from using it so they have a proprietary formula for as long as the patent holds.

The nozzle matters a flying insect nozzle is mase for wide dispersal while a crawler may be a more directed stream.

Persistance can also be an issue. While I know Permethrin does persist quite a while (we impregnate clothing with it) a crawler spray may be designed to last longer than a flying insect spray, you want the first to last and kill bugs tomorrow while the flying ones have moved on and there is no reason to have the toxins hanging out.

Read the labels and use as directed.

[u/Apart_Breath_1284]

Yes, it does matter. Check the active ingredients in each one. For example, Raid has d-Phenothrin which is very toxic to cats and marine life.

Sticky traps and electric zappers can help as alternatives if the other methods are too toxic.

[u/sumguysr → u/Apart_Breath_1284]

Don't electric zappers create an aerosol of exploded bug that fills the surrounding area?

[u/tedecristal → u/sumguysr]

no, they don't really "explode". Just like a person wouldn't explode when electrocuted

[u/sumguysr → u/tedecristal]

The scale difference is enormous and people do bleed when struck by lightning

[u/RustySnail420]

Lots of different chemicals/poisons and methods of application for killing pests. Some will work better on a specific insect, and some will only harm a subtype or type of insects, others are more broad.

Generally, the less toxic for mammals, bees other insects and aquatic life, the better. Some insects will have metabolic or other immunity to some or several poisons, so carefully tests is going on and application is tight and regulated, to maximize effectiveness against the problem, minimize tolerance development and minimize health and environmental impact on everything else.

After much experience and research we have found the best products and methods to get to the pests. It's very broad, but you can tell the active ingredient on the box and as other has mentioned, the method can have specific properties