Introduction to Pests and Pest Management

Question 1

What caused the Black Plague of Europe?

Answer 1

Bacterial disease spread to humans by rat fleas

Question 2

Bubonic plague can be treated in part by?

Answer 2

Controlling rats, other rodents, and fleas

Question 3

What caused the Irish Potato Famine?

Answer 3

Late Blight, a fungal disease that spreads through potatoes and tomatoes amongst other plants.

Question 4

What is the definition of “pest”?

Answer 4

A plant or animal detrimental to man; one that pesters or annoys.

Question 5

Which chemical was first used as a pesticide? (provide date)

Answer 5

Sulfur, which was burned to control insects and mites. (2500BC)

Question 6

Name three plant-derived insecticides and their use.

Answer 6

Hellebore for body lice, nicotine for aphids, and pyrethrins for a wide variety.

Question 7

What was the first synthetic organic pesticide created?

Answer 7

DDT (dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane), created in the 1940s for use during WWII.

Question 8

Which insect was the first to be recognized for it’s resistance to pesticides?

Answer 8

The San Jose Sale, resistant to lime-sulfur, 1908.

Question 9

Which insect has developed resistance to every major group of insecticides?

Answer 9

Colorado Potato Beetle.

Question 10

Name the book (and year published) that brought public attention to pesticides and their effects on the environment.

Answer 10

“Silent Spring”, 1962, Rachel Carson.

Question 11

Why were DDT and other chlorinated hydrocarbons insecticides considered primary concerns amongst environmentalists?

Answer 11

Their stability and persistence in the environment.

Question 12

What year was the EPA created?

Answer 12

The Environmental Protection Agency was created in 1970.

Question 13

What year was DDT banned in the United States?

Answer 13

1972.

Question 14

What is “Integrated Pest Management?”

Answer 14

The use of all available strategies and tactics to manage pests.

Question 15

True or False: IPM systems can vary depending on the situation.

Answer 15

True. Changes in pests, techniques, weather, and economic circumstances all play a role.

Question 16

List the five steps in developing an IPM program.

Answer 16

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).

Question 17

True or False: IPM is a management approach rather than an eradication program.

Answer 17

True. The goal is to maintain pest numbers and economic loss at acceptable levels.

Question 18

What is the “Economic Injury Level”?

Answer 18

The pest population causes losses equal to the cost of control measures.

Question 19

What is an “action threshold?”

Answer 19

Predetermined pest level deemed unacceptable, like the expressed number of pests per unit area.

Question 20

True or False: Action thresholds may vary given the type of pest, by site, and by season.

Answer 20

True.

Question 21

Provide examples of Mechanical Controls.

Answer 21

Devices like hands, traps, and mechanical exclusions like screens, nets, and fences.

Question 22

Provide examples of Physical Controls.

Answer 22

Manipulation of water, humidity, or temperature, as well as electric shock, light, or radiant energy.

Question 23

True or False: Physical control methods kill pests, disrupt their lifecycles, and make the environment unfavorable.

Answer 23

True.

Question 24

Provide examples of Cultural Control.

Answer 24

Plants suited for the specific site, managing irrigation, rotating plants, and pruning.

Question 25

What are “Genetic Controls”?

Answer 25

Using plants or animals resistant to attack.

Question 26

What are “Biological Controls”?

Answer 26

Introduction, encouragement, and artificial increase of plants and animals that are parasites or predators of pest species.

Question 27

What are “Chemical Controls”?

Answer 27

Use of naturally derived or synthetic chemicals.

Question 28

What are “Avicides”?

Answer 28

Chemicals used to control pest birds.

Question 29

Name the three classes of chemicals regulated and classified as pesticides under state and federal law (though not considered pesticides by definition)

Answer 29

Defoliants (stimulates leaf drop), Desiccants (chemicals used to promote drying or loss of moisture), and Growth Regulators (alter growth and development of plant).

Question 30

True or False: Washington State expands the definition of pesticides to include adjuvants. (Define adjuvants)

Answer 30

True. Adjuvants: Substances added to pesticide formulas and tank mixtures for increased safety and effectiveness.

Question 31

What type of pesticides are foliar or root-absorbed and translocated throughout the host?

Answer 31

Systemic Pesticides (can be ingested or injected).

Question 32

True or False: Contact pesticides do not require contact for the pest to be affected.

Answer 32

False. The pest must come into contact.

Question 33

Define “Legal Controls”.

Answer 33

Restricting human activities in order to limit the development of pest populations.

Question 34

Which pests do Molluscicides control?

Answer 34

Snails and slugs.

Question 35

When is the implementation of IPM strategies necessary?

Answer 35

When pests have not been held in check by natural controls.

Question 36

When the pest reaches the _______, pest management procedures need to be applied to prevent the pest from reaching economically damaging populations.

Answer 36

Economic Threshold.

Question 37

True or False: Herbicides and insecticides are both pesticides.

Answer 37

True.