A common misconception in the field of insecticides is that chemical sprays are the only resources available to homeowners. Pesticides in the form of powders and clouds of dust are another option available and most are odorless and less harmful to humans and pets – not to mention, potentially more effective.Â
Delta Dust insecticide by Bayer is a powerful insecticide that is waterproof and produces an eight-month, residual kill that is odorless and generally safe for both humans and pets.
How Dangerous is Delta Dust Insecticide?
Delta Dust is low in toxicity to humans and mammals and is not considered to be carcinogenic to humans. Delta Dust kills over fifty varieties of insects for up to eight months if insects crawl through it.
Delta Dust insecticide is one of the most popular residual insecticides on the market and unlike other residual dust, it’s active ingredient, deltamethrin, is generally safe to humans if not ingested or heavily breathed in.
As a non-messy and odorless alternative to insecticide sprays, this product will also keep working when wet. Instead of chasing and searching for hiding insects, the application of Delta Dust makes the job easier and one application can keep killing bugs for upwards of 32 weeks.
What is Delta Dust Insecticide Used For?
This product is used as an alternative to typical deltamethrin spray insecticides. Its purposes are plentiful and the two main components of choosing to apply dust are that this form of insecticide produces less of an odor is generally hidden from view and continues to kill insects for up to eight months with just one application.
For bugs that hide from view, this product is highly resourceful in that when bugs crawl through areas where it is administered, the chemical kills them for an elongated period of time. Unlike other products of its type, Delta Dust insecticide uses deltamethrin as its main insecticide ingredient, which is safe to humans and pets.
This product kills a wide variety of bugs both inside and outside of the home. Some dust insecticides deactivate if exposed to water or moisture, but this product is water-soluble, meaning that as long as it is dried, water cannot wash away its effects.
As a member of the family of pyrethroid insecticides, this product is in many ways an all-purpose insecticide, meaning that the variety of insects it provides toxicity to is numerous.
Is Delta Dust Toxic to Humans?
If Delta Dust is ingested or inhaled, irritations have been reported to occur in humans and medical assistance may be needed if this occurs.
Unlike some insecticides, deltamethrin is not a carcinogen, and apart from water-based animals, this product is only dangerous to the insects who crawl through it. You can rest assured that as long as you do not ingest or rapidly breath in this product, it is completely safe to humans and pets.
How Does Delta Dust Work?
Unlike other dust insecticides, Delta Dust insecticide is not a drying agent, so the time it takes the dust to kill insects could be a bit longer due to the bug having to ingest the chemical via grooming itself or tasting the dust.
As a residual chemical that lasts for months at a time, Delta Dust limits the amount of work it takes to administer insecticides and if applied correctly and to all harborage areas, the product inhibits insect mobility which also drives them to their eventual death. How to Apply Delta Dust
Proper administering of this product is crucial to maximizing its effectiveness. The label instructions will provide detailed instructions on application pertaining to the type of insect in question.
Delta Dust should be applied in a thin layer, preferably with a dust applicator so as not to clump the chemical which can deter bugs from crawling through it. Puff the dust into all cracks, crevices, voids, surfaces and all areas where bugs crawl and hide.Â
It is important to understand the behavior traits of problem insects to fully understand the proper place to apply the product.
What Insects Does Delta Dust Kill?
The application of the chemical should be modified based on the behavior of the pest. Due to this product being water-soluble, pests that harbor near water and even in the ground can be eliminated with proper application.Â
Since some insect species prefer to hide out of sight, you must administer the chemical to those areas to ensure the insects will crawl through it. If ever in doubt, always dust the areas where insects prefer to dwell in, which is usually walls, baseboards, and underneath and behind structures and appliances.
Delta Dust kills a wide range of pests including:
- Ants
- Bed bugs
- Bees
- Boxelder bugs
- Carpenter ants and bees
- Carpet beetles
- Centipedes
- Cockroaches
- Crickets
- Dark meal worms
- Drugstore beetles
- Fleas
- Firebrats
- Grain mites
- Granary weevils
- Millipedes
- Scorpions
- Silverfish
- Spiders
- Termites
- Ticks
- Wasps
- Yellow jackets
Does Delta Dust Kill Bed Bugs?
When using Delta Dust for bed bugs, trial and error is usually the only method to ensure that the product is working to eliminate them. This product is a dust formulation of deltamethrin, which is a pyrethroid-based chemical of which some insects, such as bed bugs, have developed resistance against.
Delta Dust for bed bugs is not automatically a no go since each particular strain of bed bug is different and there is no concrete way to immediately know if the strain of bed bugs inhabiting your home have developed this resistance.
You can always apply the product in all bed bug harborage areas and monitor the activity of the bugs to tell if they are decreasing due to the chemical. Since there is no sure-fire way to immediately know if the bed bugs in you home are pyrethroid-resistant, you may have to conduct a test to be 100% sure that it will take care of the problem.
Additionally, you can experiment by trying to capture a bed bug and placing it in a receptacle that is dusted with the poison, if the bug dies, then Delta Dust for bed bugs is an incredible way to eliminate the problem.
Does Delta Dust Kill Yellow Jackets?
Yellowjackets are an incredibly dangerous and temperamental pest that makes the usage of insecticide sprays a potentially painful and cumbersome proposition. Yellowjackets are easily identified due to their bright yellow color that gives them their name.Â
Some species of the yellow jacket will prefer to nest in the ground, which makes Delta Dust an easy to apply remedy to destroy the colony. Deltamethrin is toxic to yellow jackets, so a careful application of yellow jacket dust around the top layer of their entry hole will stick to the insects as they fly out of the hole.
It cannot be stressed enough how much caution needs to be taken when treating a yellow jacket nest. If you disturb the top of the nest too much, the yellow jackets will quickly fly out and proceed to sting you over and over again, so a dust applicator misting the dust over the top of the hole is likely the best method to utilize.
It is a good rule of thumb to avoid misting the dust directly into the yellow jacket nest as this will also agitate the yellow jackets and the dust will likely not kill them upon immediate contact. Proceed to apply the dust at dusk, as this provides the least active time of day for yellow jacket activity as the insects are preparing to nest down for the night.
Where Can You Buy Delta Dust?
This product is generally widely available and can be ordered directly from the Bayer website. You can also buy at Amazon, which provides substantial user reviews as to the powerful efficiency of the product.
A multitude of online retailers specializing in pest control and physical stores also sell the product. This product comes in multiples sizes, so it is best to measure the length of your home or areas in your yard to find the suitable size needed.
In Summary
Delta Dust is a safe, non-carcinogenic and odorless alternative to use in the place of spray insecticides. Most insecticide dust will deactivate when exposed to water and the water-solubility of this product gives it an added layer of effectiveness when trying to determine the best insecticide purchase to invest in.
Although Delta Dust is not usually toxic to humans and other larger animals, it is highly toxic to fish and aquatic animals, so care should be taken to not expose this chemical to these types of animals or ecosystems. Apart from instances where this chemical is ingested or breathed in for a prolonged period of time, it is one of the safer insecticides to have inside of the home.
Delta Dust should be applied in a thin layer, preferably with a dust applicator to maximize its complete effectiveness. Always read the label instructions to determine the best method of application pertaining to the specific type of pest you are trying to eradicate.
Delta Dust kills a large variety of insects both inside and outside of the home, including some pests that are dangerous and hostile. With a shelf life of up to eight months when left undisturbed, this product is an efficient, safe, and powerful tool to consider in your pest battle.
