AbstractIndoxacarb is a new oxadiazine insecticide that has shown outstanding field insecticidal activity. The toxicity of a 145 g litre−1 indoxacarb SC formulation (Steward™) was studied on the tarnished plant bug Lygus lineolaris and the big‐eyed bug Geocoris punctipes. Both insect species responded very similarly to indoxacarb in topical, tarsal contact and plant feeding toxicity studies. The topical LD50 of the formulation was c 35 ng AI per insect for both species. Prolonged tarsal contact with dry indoxacarb residues did not result in mortality for either insect species. However, both species were susceptible to feeding through dried residues of indoxacarb after spraying on young cotton plants. Feeding on water‐washed plants resulted in lower mortality than that observed with unwashed plants, and toxicity declined even more dramatically after a detergent rinse, indicating that much of the indoxacarb probably resides on the cotton leaf surface or in the waxy cuticle. These results were corroborated by HPLC–mass spectrometry measurements of indoxacarb residues on the plants. Greater mortality for both species was observed in a higher relative humidity environment. Higher levels of accumulated indoxacarb and its active metabolite were detected in dead G punctipes than in L lineolaris after feeding on sprayed, unwashed plants. When female G punctipes ate indoxacarb‐treated Heliothis zea eggs, there was significant toxicity. However, only c 15% of the females consumed indoxacarb‐treated eggs, and the rest of the females showed a significant diminution of feeding in response to the insecticide. Cotton field studies have shown that indoxacarb treatments at labelled rates lead to a dramatic decline in L lineolaris, with negligible declines in beneficial populations. A major route of intoxication of L lineolaris in indoxacarb‐treated cotton fields thus appears to be via oral, and not cuticular, uptake of residues from treated cotton plants. The mechanisms for selectivity/safety for G punctipes are currently under investigation and may be a combination of differential feeding behavior and diminution of feeding by females exposed to indoxacarb‐treated eggs.© 2001 Society of Chemical Industry