Amitraz is an antiparasitic drug. Product names include Ridd, Aazdieno, Acarac, Aludex, Amitraze, Avartin, Baam, Edrizan, Maitac, Mitac, Mitaban, Triatox, Triatix, Vapcozin Taktic, Triazid, Topline, Tudy, Ectodex, Garial, Danicut, Ovidrex, Acadrex, Bumetran, and Ovasyn.

It is an alpha-adrenergic agonist

Alpha-adrenergic agonist

An adrenergic alpha-agonist is a drug that selectively stimulates alpha adrenergic receptors. The alpha-adrenergic receptor has two subclasses α1 and α2.-Classes:...

.

Uses

Amitraz is a triazapentadiene compound, a member of the amidine

Amidine

Amidines are a class of oxoacid derivatives.The oxoacid from which an amidine is derived must be of the form RnEOH, where R is a substituent...

 class. It is an insecticide

Insecticide

An insecticide is a pesticide used against insects. They include ovicides and larvicides used against the eggs and larvae of insects respectively. Insecticides are used in agriculture, medicine, industry and the household. The use of insecticides is believed to be one of the major factors behind...

 and acaricide used to control red spider mites, leaf miner

Leaf miner

Leaf miner is a term used to describe the larvae of many different species of insect which live in and eat the leaf tissue of plants. The vast majority of leaf-mining insects are moths , sawflies and flies , though some beetles and wasps also exhibit this behavior.Like Woodboring beetles, leaf...

s, scale insect

Scale insect

The scale insects are small insects of the order Hemiptera, generally classified as the superfamily Coccoidea. There are about 8,000 species of scale insects.-Ecology:...

s, and aphid

Aphid

Aphids, also known as plant lice and in Britain and the Commonwealth as greenflies, blackflies or whiteflies, are small sap sucking insects, and members of the superfamily Aphidoidea. Aphids are among the most destructive insect pests on cultivated plants in temperate regions...

s in which the mechanism of action is similar to other α2-adrenoreceptors

Alpha-2 adrenergic receptor

The alpha-2 adrenergic receptor is a G protein-coupled receptor associated with the Gi heterotrimeric G-protein. It consists of three highly homologous subtypes, including α2A-, α2B-, and α2C-adrenergic. Some species other than humans express a fourth α2D-adrenergic receptor as well...

 agonists as well as by the inhibition of the enzyme monoamine oxidase

Monoamine oxidase

L-Monoamine oxidases are a family of enzymes that catalyze the oxidation of monoamines. They are found bound to the outer membrane of mitochondria in most cell types in the body. The enzyme was originally discovered by Mary Bernheim in the liver and was named tyramine oxidase...

. Sedation

Sedation

Sedation is the reduction of irritability or agitation by administration of sedative drugs, generally to facilitate a medical procedure or diagnostic procedure...

, analgesic

Analgesic

An analgesic is any member of the group of drugs used to relieve pain . The word analgesic derives from Greek an- and algos ....

 effects and cardiovascular depression similar to the α2-adrenoreceptors agonists have been described in several species after amitraz injection. On cotton

Cotton

Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....

 it is used to control bollworm

Bollworm

A bollworm is a common term for any larva of a moth that attacks the fruiting bodies of certain crops, especially cotton.The most common moths known as bollworms are:* Red or Sudan Bollworm: Diaparopsis* Rough Bollworm: Earias perhuegeli...

s, white fly, and leaf worms

Alabama argillacea

The Cotton leafworm is a moth of the Noctuidae family. It is endemic to South and Central America as far south as northern Argentina, but migrates as far north as Canada, where it can be found in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Manitoba.The wingspan is 30-35 mm.The larva is...

. On animals it is used to control tick

Tick

Ticks are small arachnids in the order Ixodida, along with mites, constitute the subclass Acarina. Ticks are ectoparasites , living by hematophagy on the blood of mammals, birds, and sometimes reptiles and amphibians...

s, mite

Mite

Mites, along with ticks, are small arthropods belonging to the subclass Acari and the class Arachnida. The scientific discipline devoted to the study of ticks and mites is called acarology.-Diversity and systematics:...

s, lice and other animal pests. The United States Environmental Protection Agency

United States Environmental Protection Agency

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...

 classifies amitraz as Class III - slightly toxic.

It cannot be used on horses, because it can cause irreversible gut stasis.

External links

• Amitraz profile from EXTOXNET, maintained by Cornell University
  Cornell University
  Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
  
  
• Amitraz profile from catalogue of Sigma-Aldrich