**1. Introduction**

On a worldwide level, farmers' crops are being attacked by a wide variety of insect pests, these results in increased costs of production and can even result in the total loss of the crop. For this reason, there is a constant search for compounds or formulations for the control of new pests or for those that have developed resistance. The pesticides that are effective and are also environmentally friendly are highly valued; these versatile products are able to be part of the best agricultural practices and biological control leading to an integrated pest management program without the need for compounds that also harm non-target organisms. Based on the need to offer new and better products, in 2008 Bayer synthetized from tetramic acid a com‐ pound that had already demonstrated insecticidal properties, a new compound called spirotetramat [1].

Spirotetramat acts as an inhibitor of the biosynthesis of lipids and represents a new alternative for the control of problematic insects, such as apple wholly whitefly and whitefly biotype Q, which cause severe damage in agricultural crops and have developed resistance to the commonly used pesticides used for their control [1, 2]. For these reasons, this research was initiated into a review of the origin and chemical properties of spirotetramat, looking into possible uses, its fate in the environment (soil, air, and water), its metabolism in plants, and the possibility of developing resistance.
