Protaphorura fimata Gisin (Poduromorpha: Onychiuridae) is a serious pest of lettuce [Lactuca sativa L. (Asteraceae)] in the Salinas Valley of California. Because P. fimata is a subterranean springtail species adapted to soil environments, individuals are assumed to be able to sense and behaviorally avoid insecticide-treated soil, and this capacity could be used strategically to control P. fimata. A series of laboratory bioassays was conducted to examine the behavior of P. fimata with respect to insecticides via noncontact and contact assays. In the noncontact assay, significantly more P. fimata individuals were collected away from the insecticide source than closer to the source (P < 0.05) when clothianidin, flonicamid, bifenthrin, diamethoate, essential oils, extracts of C. subtsugae, methomyl, chlorpyrifos, zeta-cypermethrin, thiamethoxam, pyrethrins, extracts of Burkholderia spp., cyantraniliprole, and oxamyl were used as insecticides. In the contact assay, P. fimata individuals spent significantly less time on discs treated with spinetoram and lambda-cyhalothrin during each crossing than on flonicamid- and oxamyl-treated discs. P. fimata individuals changed direction more frequently while crossing discs when the discs were treated with azadirachtin, clothianidin, bifenthrin, thiamethoxam + chlorantraniliprole, chlorpyrifos, cyantraniliprole, and lambda-cyhalothrin than when they were treated with water. In another contact assay, the number of seedlings injured by P. fimata feeding was significantly lower when germinating seeds were enclosed in a barrier treated with clothianidin, chlopyrifos, pyrethrins, and cyantraniliprole than when they were enclosed in a spinosad-treated barrier. The implications of these data for P. fimata management in the Salinas Valley are discussed.