How to Manage Pests

Compare Risks of Pesticide Active Ingredients

Lawn insects

This table compares potential hazards of pesticides mentioned in the UC IPM Pest Note for Lawn insects.

• This table does not include all pesticides registered for this purpose, only those included in the Pest Note.
• These pesticides vary in efficacy.
• Be aware that pesticides are often not necessary and nonchemical controls may be as effective.
• Please see the text of the Pest Note for complete information on management.

These pages were created to give general information on the potential hazards of pesticides mentioned in the UC IPM Pest Notes pages. Values are for active ingredients—not formulated products. Different formulations can increase or reduce risks. Ratings were taken from the information sources below. Please visit the listed links to find out more about how the ratings were determined.

For more information on toxicity of pesticides go to the National Pesticide Information Center.

1. Potential Hazard Rating: VL=Very low, L=Low, LM=Low to Moderate, M=Moderate, LH=Low to High, MH=Moderate to High, H=High, VH=Very High, N=None, NKR=No Known Risk, —=No data
2. Water quality ratings from Pesticide Choice: Best Management Practice (BMP) for Protecting Surface Water Quality in Agriculture, ANR Publication 8161, or the USDA-NRCS WIN-PST database—see Pesticides: Water-Related Toxicology of Active Ingredients.
3. Honey bee ratings are: (Very High) I-Do not apply to blooming plants; (High) II-Apply only during late evening; (Moderate) III-Apply only during late evening, night, or early morning; and (Low) IV-Apply at any time with reasonable safety to bees. For more information, see How to Reduce Bee Poisoning From Pesticides (PDF), Pacific Northwest Extension Publication PNW591.
4. Acute oral toxicity ratings for people and other mammals based on LD50 and US EPA Acute Toxicity Ratings system: H = Highly Toxic (LD50 <50), M = Moderately Toxic (LD50: 50-500), L = Slightly Toxic (LD50: 500-5000), VL = Not Acutely Toxic (LD50 >5000)
5. Long term ratings indicate whether the active ingredient is on the California Prop 65 list, which indicates if materials are known to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity, or whether the US EPA has classified the pesticide as "likely to be carcinogenic to humans", "Group B-Probably Human Carcinogen", or "Group C-Possible Human Carcinogen."

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