Abamectin: what it kills and what it harms
A miticide and insecticide made from a soil bacterium, used by growers against spider mites, broad and cyclamen mites, and leafminers. It is not a home-garden product: UC IPM lists it among the miticides available only to professional applicators, and the sprays are labelled for agricultural and commercial use. It is highly toxic to bees and fish, and hard on parasitoid wasps. Predatory mites fare better, but it is not harmless to them.
Also sold or listed as: Avid, Agri-Mek, avermectin.
At a glance
- Active
- Avermectin, IRAC group 6 (translaminar)
- Residue
- UC IPM rates its impact on natural enemies as long, meaning many weeks or months. In UK leaf-residue tests, though, it was one of the least persistent insecticides, with little or no activity against a parasitoid wasp detectable after 14 days.
- Lethal
- 2 of 5 beneficials
- Caution
- 3 of 5 beneficials
What it works on
- Twospotted spider miteOn the Avid label, with other spider mites, eriophyid mites and spruce spider mite. Apply when mites first appear and repeat as needed.
- Broad miteOn the label as a tarsonemid mite. Repeat sprays onto new growth may be needed.
- Cyclamen miteOn the label as a tarsonemid mite, with the same advice to re-treat new growth.
- LeafminersLiriomyza leafminers, at 7-day intervals. The label limits it to three applications in a row before rotating to another product.
- Boxwood leafminerOn the label. Time it for when adults start laying eggs in the new foliage.
- Thrips, aphids and whitefliesSuppression only. The spray has to hit the young stages, and the label bars this use on roses, chrysanthemums and gerbera to slow resistance in mites and leafminers.
- Tomato russet miteGrowers use the Agri-Mek formulation on tomato. It needs a county permit in California.
Effect on beneficials
- Encarsia formosaField-rate residues on glass killed over 98% of adult wasps within 6 hours in a laboratory test, and unlike most insecticides tested, abamectin residues did not leave survivors parasitising more whiteflies. UC IPM rates abamectin high (H) for parasitoids; mapped H → lethal. — Wang et al. 2019 (Pest Manag Sci); UC IPM floriculture table 01/22Lethal — high, over 75 %
- Aphidius colemaniUC IPM rates abamectin high (H) for parasitoids; mapped H → lethal. The residue is short-lived: in UK leaf-residue tests, little or no activity against this wasp was detectable after 14 days. — UC IPM floriculture table 01/22; Anjum & Wright 2023 (J Econ Entomol)Lethal — high, over 75 %
- Phytoseiulus persimilisUC IPM rates abamectin moderate (M) for predatory mites; mapped M → caution. A Canadian contact test found it very toxic to adult P. persimilis, so treat caution as the best case. — UC IPM floriculture table 01/22; Bostanian & Akalach 2006 (Pest Manag Sci)Caution — moderate, 25–75 %
- Amblyseius cucumerisUC IPM rates abamectin moderate (M) for predatory mites; mapped M → caution. A 2021 laboratory study found it hundreds of times more toxic to spider mites than to this predator, and Cornell lists avermectins as compatible with it. — UC IPM floriculture table 01/22; Cheng et al. 2021 (Ecotoxicol Environ Saf); Cornell IPM 2022Caution — moderate, 25–75 %
- Chrysoperla carneaFresh residues were slightly harmful (IOBC class 2) to third-stage larvae in a Spanish laboratory study; mapped 2 → caution. UC IPM rates abamectin high (H) for general predators as a group, so this may understate it for other predators. — Maia et al. 2016 (Ecotoxicology); UC IPM floriculture table 01/22Caution — moderate, 25–75 %
No data never means safe: treat an unrated pairing as caution and try it on a small area first. See every product side by side →
How it works
Abamectin is an avermectin, one of a family of compounds made by the soil bacterium Streptomyces avermitilis. It acts on the nervous system and paralyses mites and insects. It is translaminar: it moves into the leaf, which is why it reaches leafminers feeding inside. Plants do not take it up from the soil, so it is not systemic like imidacloprid. On an exposed surface it breaks down fast in light, with a half-life of 4 to 6 hours as a thin film in laboratory tests.
Its effect on beneficials varies by group. A 2021 study found it far more toxic to spider mites than to the predatory mite Amblyseius cucumeris. It is still hard on parasitoid wasps: residues on glass killed over 98% of Encarsia formosa adults, and it caused significant deaths among the young of the leafminer parasitoid Diglyphus isaea developing in treated leaves. Sources also disagree. UC IPM rates its impact as long (many weeks or months) in its floriculture table, yet the same program's tomato guidelines say it does not harm natural enemies, and UK leaf tests found its residues among the shortest-lived.
Using it
- Who can buy it
- Avid 0.15EC (2% abamectin, EPA Reg. 100-896) is labelled for agricultural and commercial use on ornamentals. UC IPM lists abamectin among miticides available only to professional applicators.
- Rate: mites
- 4 fl oz per 100 gallons of water, applied when mites first appear and repeated as needed. For broad and cyclamen mites, re-treat new growth.
- Rate: leafminers
- 8 fl oz per 100 gallons, repeated at 7-day intervals. The same rate is used for suppressing aphids, thrips and whiteflies, weekly for 2–3 weeks.
- Limits
- 8–16 fl oz per acre per application, so the per-100-gallon rate drops when high spray volumes are needed, and no more than 252 fl oz (0.296 lb abamectin) per acre per year. With horticultural oil (0.5–1%) on field-grown woody ornamentals, repeat no sooner than every 7 days.
- Re-entry
- Restricted-entry interval 12 hours under the Worker Protection Standard. Elsewhere, stay off until the spray has dried.
- Harvest
- Avid is for ornamentals only. On tomatoes, Agri-Mek has a 7-day pre-harvest interval.
Cautions
- Bees
- Label: "highly toxic to bees exposed to direct treatment or residues on blooming crops or weeds. Do not apply this product or allow it to drift to blooming crops or weeds if bees are visiting the treatment area."
- Fish and water
- Label: toxic to fish and wildlife. EXTOXNET gives a 96-hour LC50 of 0.003 mg/L for rainbow trout, and a 48-hour LC50 of 0.003 mg/L for the water flea Daphnia. Do not spray where surface water is present, and time sprays to dry before rain.
- People and pets
- Signal word WARNING: may be fatal if swallowed, and causes substantial but temporary eye injury. Handlers need coveralls, chemical-resistant gloves and eyewear, and a respirator in greenhouses.
- Plant damage
- Phytotoxicity has been seen on some ferns (Adiantum) and Shasta daisy, and the label advises against using it on them. Test a small area first.
- Resistance
- Group 6. Rotate to a different mode of action. Against Liriomyza leafminers, the label allows three applications before switching.
Use instead
- Spider mites in a home garden: UC IPM names horticultural oil, insecticidal soap, neem oil and wettable sulfur
- Spider mites under glass: release Phytoseiulus persimilis instead of spraying
- Leafminers: the parasitoid Diglyphus isaea, which abamectin kills
- Broad and cyclamen mites: see the options on the broad mite and cyclamen mite pages
Other products
Sources
EPA label, Avid 0.15EC Miticide/Insecticide (Syngenta), Reg. 100-896 (accepted 10/2025)
UC IPM, Relative Toxicities of Pesticides Used in Floriculture and Nurseries (01/22)
UC IPM, Broad Mite and Cyclamen Mite (home and landscape)
UC IPM Pest Management Guidelines: Tomato, treatment table (09/16)
EXTOXNET Pesticide Information Profile, Abamectin (1996)
Wang et al., Selectivity of insecticides to Encarsia formosa, Pest Manag Sci 75:2716 (2019)
Anjum & Wright, Foliar residual toxicity to brassica pests and enemies, JEE 116:153 (2023)
Bostanian & Akalach, Indoxacarb and five insecticides on P. persimilis, Pest Manag Sci 62 (2006)
Cheng et al., N. cucumeris and its prey after 19 pesticides, Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 217 (2021)
Maia et al., Pesticides and Chrysoperla carnea larvae, Ecotoxicology 25:845 (2016)
Bjorksten & Robinson, Pesticides and leafminer parasitoids, J Econ Entomol 98:1831 (2005)
Cornell IPM, Neoseiulus cucumeris biocontrol fact sheet (2022)
Drafted from the cited sources, then checked claim by claim against those sources on 23 September 2026.
Always follow the label. Labels are legally binding; this page is not.