Insect pests Flashcards
1
Q
Pest definition
A
Insects become a pest when they come into conflicts with humans, directly or indirectly.
2
Q
What percentage of insects are pests?
A
Approximately 10,000 or 1% of insects are considered occasional pests
3
Q
Categories of pests
A
- Plant pests
- Stored product pests
- Household pests
- Direct human pests
- Livestock pests
4
Q
Plant pests
A
Plant pests are herbivorous or phytophagous insects
5
Q
Host plant
A
A plant upon which an organism lives and/or eats
6
Q
Monophagous
A
Feed on one species or genus of plant
7
Q
Oligophagous
A
Feed on various plants in a single family
8
Q
Polyphagous
A
Feed on a variety of plants of unrelated families
9
Q
Direct damage
A
Feeding
10
Q
Indirect damage
A
Transmission of plant diseases
11
Q
Boll Weevil
Crop pest
A
- Monophagous: Cotton
- Successfully eradicated in most states but still an important pest in South America
- Uses about 25% of the worlds insecticides
- Other control method: Pheromone mass trapping
12
Q
Colorado potato beetle
Crop pest
A
- Oligophagous: Solanaceae family
- Resistance to many insecticides
- Hand picking, crop rotation and Bt control
13
Q
Mediterranean fruit fly
Crop pest
A
- Polyphagous: over 260 different hosts
- Mostly fruits, also vegetables, flowers, & nuts
- Heavily controlled in the US
- Sterile insect technique
14
Q
Desert Locust
Crop pest
A
- Most important insect pest
- Polyphagous: crop & non-crop
- Africa & Southwest Asia
- Forms swarms of billions
15
Q
Spongy Moth
Forest pest
A
- Introduced from Europe
- Major pest in Eastern N.A
- Polyphagous: 300 tree species
- Caterpillar feed on foliage, adults do not feed
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