Chapter 23 Flashcards
pest
is any species that competes with us for food, invades lawns and gardens, destroys wood in houses, spreads disease, invades ecosystems, or is simply a nuisance.
natural enemy
(predators, parasites, and disease organisms) control the populations of about 98% of the potential pest species as part of the earth’s free ecological services and thus help keep any one species form taking over for very long.
pesticides
chemicals to kill or control populations of organisms we consider undesirable.
insecticides
chemicals that kill insects by blocking reproduction, clogging their airways, or disrupting their nervous system
herbicides
chemicals that kill weeds by disrupting their metabolism and growth
fungicides
fungus killers
rodenticides
rat and mouse killers
biocide
is a more accurate name for these chemicals because most pesticides kill other organisms as well as their pest targets.
second generation pesticides
they are composed of synthetic organic compounds.
DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane)
a synthetic organic used as an insecticide. Tends to persist in the environment and become concentrated in animals at the head of the food chain.
broad-spectrum agents
pesticides that are toxic to many species
selective or narrow spectrum agents
are effective against a narrowly defined group organisms.
persistence
the length of time they remain deadly in the environment
pesticide treadmill
whereby farmers pay more and more for a pest control program that often becomes less and less effective.
circle of poison
residues of some of these banned or unapproved chemicals exported to other countries can return to the exporting countries on imported food
Silent Spring
which warned of the dangers of DDT and other broad-spectrum and persistent pesticides.
dirty dozen
list of chemicals that includes DDT and eight other chlorine-containing persistent pesticides.
economic threshold
the point at which the economic losses caused by pest damage outweigh the cost of applying a pesticide.
cosmetic spraying
extra pesticides are used because most consumers often buy only the best-looking fruits and vegetables even though there is nothing wrong with blemished ones.
food irrigation
extends food shelf life and kills insects and parasitic worms (such as trichinae in pork). It also kills harmful bacteria.
integrated pest management (IPM)
combined use of biological, chemical, and cultivation methods in proper sequence and timing to keep the size of a pest population below the size that causes economically unacceptable loss of a crop or livestock animal.
