If spinosad is accepted as an organic control - and it too is synthetically derived from a naturally occurring bacterium - then I am not sure why this new spider venom insecticide would not also qualify. But you never know :-)

Maybe, maybe not. Much will depend on just how critter specific this stuff is.

" it’s possible to extract specific peptides from the deadly spider’s venom that actively kill harmful pests without affecting mammals or beneficial critters that actually help your garden thrive, like honeybees. " is nothing more than manufacturers assessment. We will need to see what the EPA has to say.

kimmq is kimmsr

Kimmsr ... it's in the process of field trials and EPA assessment.

My question was not about the toxicity, it was about the likelihood of it being accepted as "organic" because it's a copy of a naturally occurring peptide.

Spinosad, BTW, is produced by growing a strain of the organism it was discovered in and purifying it, not by yeast or bacteria modified to produce it.

I understand it is trial, but one cannot state that something that has not been fully researched is acceptable to the organic community until all the research has been done and we know how the product affects the total environment.

kimmq is kimmsr

I'm not sure I unnderstand the reason for the qualification of spinosad. It is derived from a naturally occurring organism. The spinosyns (metabolites) that comprise the product are readily synthesized if necessary for quantity production. Why is this type of biochemically derived pesticide, virtually all of which are deemed "organically acceptable", be considered any differently than the peptides derived from another naturally occurring organism?