TL;DR
An insect growth regulator is a pesticide that mimics juvenile hormones or blocks chitin formation, so exposed insects cannot molt, pupate, or produce viable eggs, collapsing the population over weeks instead of killing on contact. Products like methoprene, pyriproxyfen, and hydroprene are mainstays against fleas, roaches, mosquitoes, and stored-product pests, usually blended with an adulticide that handles the current generation.
What it means
An insect growth regulator is a pesticide that mimics juvenile hormones or blocks chitin formation, so exposed insects cannot molt, pupate, or produce viable eggs, collapsing the population over weeks instead of killing on contact. Products like methoprene, pyriproxyfen, and hydroprene are mainstays against fleas, roaches, mosquitoes, and stored-product pests, usually blended with an adulticide that handles the current generation. Their insect-specific hormone targets give them low toxicity to people and pets, which is why flea treatments for carpet and yard lean on them.
Where it sits in the glossary
Insect growth regulator is part of the Trade jargon group inside the ProFix Directory glossary. Browse every term in this category from the glossary index.
Why Ohio homeowners should know it
This is a term Ohio homeowners encounter when reading contractor quotes, hiring paperwork, or inspection reports. Understanding it well enough to ask one good follow-up question is usually all the protection a homeowner needs.
ProFix Directory keeps definitions short on the index page and saves the longer context — Ohio-specific rules, where the term comes from, and which ProFix tools touch it — for these per-term pages so the term is easy to cite and easy to share.
ProFix tools that touch this term
See also
License: CC-BY-4.0 — quote freely with attribution to ProFix Editorial Team / ProFix Directory.