We are looking for a systemic insecticide which can be applied to the aboveground parts of the plant and which will be transported to the roots (via the phloem) to reduce root herbivory without influencing other taxa of the soil fauna. It seems that (most?) systemic insecticdes show rather acropetal behaviour...
phloem mobility is basipetal but any sugar conjugate will be transported insuch way. Root release requires a specific cofactor as in http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21245258. In order to solve your plan you should find the atcive combination for the pest and plant system under question. You see guidelines in http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22029402
As far as I know, there is no commercial insecticide which show obvious shoot-to-root transport. As mentioned above, the key point is phloem mobility. I think phloem systemic insecticide may help to achieve your goal. The strategy of insecticide-sugar conjuagte is one way to develop phloem systemic molecule, because plants have functions for transporting sugars to nonphotosynthetic tissues. There must be other paths to get phloem mobile insecticides, but I think maybe you should start with phloem mobilty.
As far as my knowledge I endorse the Wu Hanxiang statement, there are no commercial insecticide which show obvious shoot-to-root transport.
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