Acaricide rotenone

The control of lice, mites and warbleflies continues to be achieved by the older agents. The selection pressure that caused resistance in cattle ticks and sheep blowfly has not been encountered by these other ectoparasites since their less frequent incidence has required less insecticide/acaricide usage. In addition to the OPs, rotenone (92) (the active principle of derris), an uncoupler of oxidative phosphorylation, continues to be used to combat mange. 

Rotenone is present in the roots of Derris spp., from Malaya and the East Indies, and Lon-chocarpus spp. Rotenone is a selective insecticide with some acaricidal properties for control of garden insects, and lice and ticks on animals. Rotenone is very toxic to fish, so it can be used to control undesirable fish species (to eradicate them from lakes, streams, and reservoirs). Its oral LD50 in rats is 132 mg/kg. 

Chemical and biological activity studies of P. erosus seeds started since 1890 with M. Gresshoff, leading forty years later to the identification of rotenone (32) as the insecticide, acaricidal and fish poison [61]. At the present time, at least twenty isoflavonoids, mainly rotenoids "Fig. (10) have been isolated from this source (Table 4). 

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