ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on specific property of the organotins: antifeeding effects in insects. It suggests that the results could be improved further by raising the concentration and better synchronization of the treatments with the development of the insect pest. A vast amount of laboratory organotin antifeedant studies with numerous insect species have been conducted. Certain cases of mothproofing may indeed be just another expression of the antifeeding phenomenon we know from insects of agricultural importance. Organotins used in paints against marine fouling, to prevent the attachment of barnacles, algae, tubeworms, hydroids, and sponges to ship hulls, marine instruments, and outboard motor engines, are tributyltins or fentins, such as tributyltin fluoride, bis(tributyltin)oxide, or fentin fluoride or hydroxide. The insects stay on the plant and, refusing to feed, die of starvation. Scientists in Egypt have been exceptionally active in conducting field trials against Spodoptera littoralis in cotton.
