Module 10 - Sustainable Insects-Human Interactions II Flashcards
The use of chemical insecticides improves global crop production and pest management, but comes with its own set of risks such as pollution and contamination, as well as the “three R’s”. What are the three R’s?
Resurgence, replacement, and resistance
Biological control
A pest management approach where natural enemies are manipulated.
- takes advantage of natural trophic interactions; predators, parasitoids, pathogens, and even herbivores of pestiferous plants or weeds
Cultural control
- Environmental factors are manipulated to reduce pest development, survival, and reproduction to restrict pest access to essential resources
Four basic trophic levels
1st: Autotrophs (“producers”)
- create their own food; can obtain energy from inorganic chemicals or other energy sources
2nd: First-order consumers
- obtain energy by feeding on autotrophs
- herbivores
3rd: Second-order consumers
- obtain energy by feeding on first-order consumers
- carnivores
4th: Top predators
-feed on other carnivores
*many organisms do not fit neatly into these categories
In most pest management situations, what is the management target?
Herbivores
- kept in check by natural enemies in the third trophic level
Natural enemies
predators, parasitoids, parasites, and pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi
Biological control agents; 4 types
When natural enemies are recruited or managed by humans in order to reduce pests populations
1. Predators
2. Parasitoids
3. Pathogens
4. Herbivorous insects
What is the most widely used biological control agent?
Parasitoids
Parasitoids
Insects that are parasitic as larvae, and eventually kill the arthropod host
- contrast to parasites, which don’t normally kill the hose to complete life cycle
- only larval parasitoids parasitise the host; adult parasitoids are free-living and do not feed on the host
Where does a female parasitoid lay her eggs?
On or inside the body of a host, after which the larvae hatch and feed on the host’s internal organs and hemolymph- killing the host
- some postpone death of host by feeding on non-essential organs and tissues
What makes parasitoids effective control agents in IPM systems?
- affect fewer non-target species than chemical insecticides
- specialized host-finding
Downside of using parasitoids in IPM?
Only ovipositing female parasitoids search for hosts, and their reproductive capacity is dependant on host availability
What order are most parasitoids in?
Hymenoptera and Diptera
How can parasitoids be categorized?
Based on where they occur on the host during feeding stages of their life cycle. Can also be categorized by impact they have on the host.
Endoparasitoids
Parasitoids that develop within the hose
- feed on tissues within host, and have specialized adaptations for living within another organissm
Ectoparasitoids
Feed from outside the host and live on the host during larval development
Koinobiont parasitoids
Develop while the host continues to feed and grow
Idiobiont parasitoids
Paralyze and inhibit the development of their hosts
- conceal hosts in a burrow
- most are ectoparasitoids