The water-in-oil Pickering high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs) were firstly stabilized by hydrophobic silica particles with adding small amounts of nonionic surfactant Hypermer 2296. Then molecularly imprinted polymer foams (MIPFs) derived from Pickering HIPEs were evaluated as adsorbents for the selective adsorption of lambda-cyhalothrin. The results of characterization indicated that MIPFs possessed open-cell structure, interconnecting pores, thermal stability, moderate hydrophobicity and mechanical robust. The adsorption capacity for lambda-cyhalothrin were closely related with the morphologies of the MIPFs, such as void diameter and interconnectivity, which could be easily tailored by varying the parameters of Pickering HIPEs. The batch mode experiments proved that as-prepared MIPFs exhibited the excellent adsorption capacity for lambda-cyhalothrin (46.10 mu mol g(-1) at 25 degrees C) and enhanced recognition towards lambda-cyhalothrin over fenvalerate and diethyl phthalate. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.