Integrated Pest Management Flashcards

A school district hires a pest manager to implement IPM. Which action best exemplifies IPM principles in this setting?

Answer: Using low-toxicity baits and sealing entry points, with pesticides applied only when monitoring indicates a threshold has been exceeded

School IPM emphasizes reduced pesticide use, targeted applications, physical exclusion, and threshold-based decision making to protect children's health.

What is the primary limitation of using parasitoids as biological control agents in augmentative programs?

Answer: They are highly host-specific and may not be commercially available for all pests

While host specificity is ecologically desirable, it limits the range of pests a given parasitoid can control, and not all pests have commercially available parasitoid agents.

Degree-day (growing degree day) models are used in IPM primarily to:

Answer: Predict pest development timing based on accumulated heat units

Degree-day models use temperature accumulation above a base threshold to predict when pest life stages (egg hatch, adult emergence) will occur, enabling better-timed interventions.

Which statement best describes 'conservation biological control'?

Answer: Modifying the environment or reducing practices that harm naturally occurring natural enemies

Conservation biological control focuses on protecting and enhancing existing populations of natural enemies through habitat management, reduced pesticide use, and providing alternative food sources.

In an IPM context, what is a 'refuge' planting strategy used for in Bt crop systems?

Answer: Maintaining susceptible pest populations to dilute resistance alleles in the population

Refuge areas of non-Bt crops allow susceptible insects to survive and mate with any resistant individuals, diluting resistance genes and slowing the development of Bt resistance.

What distinguishes a 'general predator' from a 'specialist predator' in biological control?

Answer: General predators feed on many prey species; specialist predators target a narrow range of hosts

General predators such as lacewings and ground beetles consume a wide variety of prey, while specialist predators have a much narrower host range.

A pest manager conducts a pre-treatment inspection and finds cockroach activity in a commercial kitchen. According to IPM, what is the correct next step?

Answer: Identify the species, assess population size, and recommend sanitation improvements before selecting treatments

IPM requires proper identification and assessment of pest levels and contributing conditions before selecting the most appropriate, targeted management tactics.