Insect Control Management Quiz

Study Notes

Economic Injury Level (EIL): The point where the amount of insect damage is equal to the cost of controlling the insects.
Economic Threshold Level (ETL): The point where insect populations are high enough to warrant control measures to stop them from reaching the EIL.

Plant Damage by Insects:
- Feeding (Phytophagy): Insects consume plant parts, causing damage to leaves, stems, roots, and fruits.
- Oviposition Damage: Insects lay eggs on or within plants, leading to plant tissue damage, death, or fruit drop.
- Disease Transmission: Insects act as vectors for plant diseases, spreading them from infected plants to healthy ones.
Stored Products Damage:
- Destruction by Termites, Beetles, and Ants: Insects damage materials like wood and fabrics.
- Damage to Animal Fibers: Insects like dermestid beetles and clothes moths can damage furs, clothing, blankets, rugs, and upholstery.
Stored Food Damage:
- Contamination by Tunneling/Feeding: Insects contaminate food with their presence and excrement, impacting quality and marketability.
Damage to Man and Animals:
- Annoyance: Insects can cause annoyance through bites, stings, and secretions.
- Venomous Insects: Bees, wasps, and caterpillars can inject venom, causing irritation, swelling, pain, and even death.
Parasitic Insects:
- Internal parasites: Live inside the bodies of humans or animals, causing irritation, tissue damage, and death.
- External parasites: Fleas and bed bugs can cause irritation through bites.
Disease Transmission:
- Piercing-sucking insects: Vector diseases in plants, animals, and humans
- Houseflies and blowflies: Mechanically transmit diseases such as typhoid fever, cholera, and dysentery.

Origin:
- Endemic Pest: Native to a specific region.
- Exotic Pest: Introduced from outside the local region.
Population Dynamics:
- Key/Major Pest: Always present and abundant, causing significant damage.
- Potential/Minor Pest: Present at low populations, potentially becoming a major pest under favorable conditions.
- Occasional/Sporadic Pest: Migrate and cause significant damage when populations increase.
Feeding Habits:
- Chewing Insects: Consume plant parts by chewing.
- Sucking Insects: Pierce plant tissues and suck out fluids.
- Boring Insects: Tunnel into plant tissues.
Target Host/Plant Parts:
- Phytophagous (Herbivorous): Feed on plant parts.
- Zoophagous/Carnivorous: Feed on other animals.
- Entomophagous: Feed on other insects.
- Saprophagous: Feed on dead organic matter.
- Mycetophagous: Feed on fungi.
Range of Host:
- Monophagous: Feed on only one species of host plant.
- Oligophagous: Feed on a few species of host plants.
- Polyphagous: Feed on many different species of host plants.