Introduction to Pests and Pest Management Flashcards
What caused the Black Plague of Europe?
Bacterial disease spread to humans by rat fleas
Bubonic plague can be treated in part by?
Controlling rats, other rodents, and fleas
What caused the Irish Potato Famine?
Late Blight, a fungal disease that spreads through potatoes and tomatoes amongst other plants.
What is the definition of “pest”?
A plant or animal detrimental to man; one that pesters or annoys.
Which chemical was first used as a pesticide? (provide date)
Sulfur, which was burned to control insects and mites. (2500BC)
Name three plant-derived insecticides and their use.
Hellebore for body lice, nicotine for aphids, and pyrethrins for a wide variety.
What was the first synthetic organic pesticide created?
DDT (dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane), created in the 1940s for use during WWII.
Which insect was the first to be recognized for it’s resistance to pesticides?
The San Jose Sale, resistant to lime-sulfur, 1908.
Which insect has developed resistance to every major group of insecticides?
Colorado Potato Beetle.
Name the book (and year published) that brought public attention to pesticides and their effects on the environment.
“Silent Spring”, 1962, Rachel Carson.
Why were DDT and other chlorinated hydrocarbons insecticides considered primary concerns amongst environmentalists?
Their stability and persistence in the environment.
What year was the EPA created?
The Environmental Protection Agency was created in 1970.
What year was DDT banned in the United States?
1972.
What is “Integrated Pest Management?”
The use of all available strategies and tactics to manage pests.
True or False: IPM systems can vary depending on the situation.
True. Changes in pests, techniques, weather, and economic circumstances all play a role.
List the five steps in developing an IPM program.
Identification (gives us access to biological information), management system (specific area), management strategy (use of tactics), reliable monitoring (a measurement of population, weather data), and thresholds (economic factors).
True or False: IPM is a management approach rather than an eradication program.
True. The goal is to maintain pest numbers and economic loss at acceptable levels.
What is the “Economic Injury Level”?
The pest population causes losses equal to the cost of control measures.
What is an “action threshold?”
Predetermined pest level deemed unacceptable, like the expressed number of pests per unit area.
True or False: Action thresholds may vary given the type of pest, by site, and by season.
True.
Provide examples of Mechanical Controls.
Devices like hands, traps, and mechanical exclusions like screens, nets, and fences.
Provide examples of Physical Controls.
Manipulation of water, humidity, or temperature, as well as electric shock, light, or radiant energy.
True or False: Physical control methods kill pests, disrupt their lifecycles, and make the environment unfavorable.
True.
Provide examples of Cultural Control.
Plants suited for the specific site, managing irrigation, rotating plants, and pruning.
What are “Genetic Controls”?
Using plants or animals resistant to attack.
What are “Biological Controls”?
Introduction, encouragement, and artificial increase of plants and animals that are parasites or predators of pest species.
What are “Chemical Controls”?
Use of naturally derived or synthetic chemicals.
What are “Avicides”?
Chemicals used to control pest birds.
Name the three classes of chemicals regulated and classified as pesticides under state and federal law (though not considered pesticides by definition)
Defoliants (stimulates leaf drop), Desiccants (chemicals used to promote drying or loss of moisture), and Growth Regulators (alter growth and development of plant).
True or False: Washington State expands the definition of pesticides to include adjuvants. (Define adjuvants)
True. Adjuvants: Substances added to pesticide formulas and tank mixtures for increased safety and effectiveness.
What type of pesticides are foliar or root-absorbed and translocated throughout the host?
Systemic Pesticides (can be ingested or injected).
True or False: Contact pesticides do not require contact for the pest to be affected.
False. The pest must come into contact.
Define “Legal Controls”.
Restricting human activities in order to limit the development of pest populations.
Which pests do Molluscicides control?
Snails and slugs.
When is the implementation of IPM strategies necessary?
When pests have not been held in check by natural controls.
When the pest reaches the _______, pest management procedures need to be applied to prevent the pest from reaching economically damaging populations.
Economic Threshold.
True or False: Herbicides and insecticides are both pesticides.
True.
