AbstractThe first non‐steroidal ecdysteroid agonists are dibenzoyl hydrazines and are typified by the compounds designated RH‐5849 and RH‐5992. The discovery that these compounds mimic 20E in a variety of insect orders, and especially the Lepidoptera, generated great interest from the research and agricultural communities. Such compounds provide important new research tools for physiological, biochemical, and molecular studies. In addition, the potential for application to agricultural pests looks very promising, especially for RH‐5992 (tebufenozide). This review evaluates the evidence on the specificity of the ecdysteroid‐like actions of these materials and considers their application for research and pest management. © 1995 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.This article is a US Government work and, as such, is in the public domain in the United State