Talstar P Professional Insecticide - Questions & Answers

Talstar P (Talstar One) would be applied at 0.5 to 1 oz per gallon of water.  The higher rate for heavy infestations or first application.

We do not recommend mixing any type of herbicide with insecticide. Each contain different properties that could degrade the effectiveness of the active ingredients.

Talstar P will do a great job killing insects, but it will have no effect on a mouse. It is important when setting/placing traps for mice to put the traps directly into the travel paths that mice use. If the mice are not accepting peanut butter as a bait, you will need to try something else. Cotton balls with a drop of vanilla wedged onto the bait pedal, bits of string tied to the bait pedal or other items that you have noticed that they are already eating such as pet food or bits of bread work well too.

Talstar will kill spiders.  However, it is not a contact kill product....it is made more for longevity and having a long residual.  It will work much faster when a spider is present when you are spraying and you spray directly on the spider.  It will still not die immediately, but rather quickly. Once the spray dries, if a spider walks over it at a later time, it will pick up the dried Talstar on its body, but it will take much longer to kill it.  It can take hours to a day or so for it to finally kill the spider, depending on the size of the spider.  Most all residual insecticides will work this way.

Our most popular general use product is called Talstar.  It is widely used by pest control companies because it is labeled for almost every insect you could have a problem with and you can use it outside the home as well as inside, it is odorless and very safe for use around children and pets.  It is a liquid concentrate that you mix with water in a one gallon hand pump sprayer.  It will last for 60 to 90 days outside in between treatments.  It is also labeled for lawn and ornamental use, and can be used on trees, plants, bushes and shrubs for all sorts of ornamental pests including Japanese beetles, mosquitoes, and other leaf eating pests.

Yes.  Talstar is labeled for lawn and ornamentals and can be applied to any tree, bush, or shrub that is not a fruit or nut bearing tree.  It is commonly used to kill and prevent bagworms and other tree infesting insects.

Talstar P will kill Cicada Killer that come into contact with treated areas for a sufficient amount of time to receive a lethal dose. You will need to dilute 1 fl oz of Talstar P per gallon of water and broadcast spray over the areas where you have noticed activity. Most folks notice only very limited results from broadcast sprays of insecticides for cicada killers because they don't land and walk around for a long enough time before entering their underground burrow. Please read below for the most effective treatment method:

Cicada Killer wasps thrive in disturbed environments, such as landscaped yards and places where bare soil is exposed. You can discourage the wasps from nesting in your yard by cutting your grass on the highest setting and by adding a thick layer of mulch to flower beds during the Cicada Killer Wasp season. These wasps do not like over saturated lawns either, so over watering during their season will help prevent them. Unfortunately, there is no fool proof way to prevent cicada killer wasps.For prevention you can try to use a granular insecticide such as Talstar PL  Granules in the couple of weeks before this pest is known to emerge. For current infestations, you would need to use Delta dust in each individual burrow.


We also like to let our customers know that the Cicada Killer wasps are beneficial insects that provide free pest control for a couple months each year. Cicada killer wasps paralyze and provision their burrows with other insects to feed their young.  The beneficial Cicada killer wasps, while large and intimidating to see, are mostly harmless and there have been very few reports of anyone getting stung by just being near them. In most cases where a sting was reported, the wasps were being held or molested in some way. Cicada Killer Wasp stings are also reported to be almost painless.

Talstar P is our most popular general use insecticide and the most widely used by professional pest control companies.  It can be used indoors as well as outside, and it is odorless and very safe to use when children and pets are present.  The key to scorpion control is a very thorough outside treatment around the foundation of your home.  For scorpions, you should treat around the exterior of your home every 30 days in the spring and summer when scorpions are most active.

Scorpion Control

Of course you can do your own pest control!  We have sold product to hundreds of thousands of people who want to save money and treat their pest problems themselves.  Bifenthrin is an excellend active ingredient that is not only good for ants, but just about any insect problem you may have.  Typically you would treat around the home every 2 to 3 months depending on climate and part of the country you live in.  Our most popular product containing bifenthrin is Talstar One. 

Yes. Talstar P, once dry, will not reconstitute and as long as the product was applied according to the product label there should be no issues.

Talstar is applied 1 fl oz per gallon of water and the mixture will treat a 1,000 sq ft area. Talstar comes in a pint(16oz), quart(32oz), 3/4 gallon(96oz) and gallon (128oz).

You can use 0.5 oz up to 1 oz per gallon of Talstar P (Talstar One) per gallon of water for mosquito control.

Yes. Adult Japanese Beetles can be controlled using Talstar P. Thoroughly spray the foliage using 1 oz per gallon of water/1000 sq ft for best results. 

Talstar will not harm chameleons or lizards, but it will kill the insects in the area they feed on so you may notice a decline in the number you see around as their food sources will be more scarce. Butterflies and bees are insects and will be affected by an insecticide like Talstar and any other product the same way the target pests like ants and spiders would be. The best way to reduce the chance of the Talstar affecting the bees, butterflies and beneficial insects is to spray later in the day when they are not active and are back in their homes/nests, and try to avoid blooms of flowers and plants they would be using for pollenation. Most structural insects you would be targeting are not going to be landing in the same places they would be so it helps keep you from doing as much damage. 

Per the Talstar Label, to ensure optimum control, delay watering (irrigation) or mowing for 24 hours after application. If the grass area is being maintained at a mowing height of greater than 1 inch, then higher application rates (Up to 1 fluid oz. per 1000 square feet) may be required during periods of high pest pressure.

Talstar P is not labeled to be used around anything edible. It can stay in the soil for up to 5-7 years so any treated soil would not be able to be used.  For treating fire ant mounds in a garden you could use Martins Surrender Fire Ant Killer which is labeled for use on selected agricultural crops and food bearing plants.

Talstar P should not cause any harm or staining to flooring or other surfaces. It should only be applied to cracks and crevices indoors and not on the open floor space.

We would recommend choosing a product that is specifically labeled for gnats or midges such as Talstar P or Onslaught. Both of these products are labeled for biting gnats and midges and can be sprayed over the lawn. Flying insects are hard to control because they do not readily come into contact with the areas where you have sprayed the insecticide, so it important to spray areas where the tiny flies actually land or hang out. These products will also kill yellow flies or deer flies.

While the product will not hurt the carpet, Talstar P is not labeled to be broadcast sprayed over carpeted areas for carpet beetle control. Talstar P can only be used as a crack and crevice application indoors. For indoor carpet beetle control you may want to consider a product such as Nyguard Plus. This product contains an insecticide to kill the roaming adults and an insect growth regulator to stop the harder to kill immature beetles from reaching a reproductive state which in turn will break the cycle of infestation. As an added bonus this product also contains a deodorizer for carpet applications.

Talstar is not designed to be used in a fogger of any sort, only sprayers or large mist blowers like a Solo 451. Using Talstar or any other insecticide not designed for a fogger could clog your equipment or lower the efficacy of the product as the ingredient are not designed for this type of application. You may want to consinder some of our Fogging Concentrates to see which best fits your needs and type of fogger. Please let us know if you have any other questions.