Mixed Deck — All ACE Topics Flashcards

When conducting a public health risk assessment for bed bug infestations in multi-unit housing, which impact should be given the highest priority beyond direct bites?

Answer: Mental health impacts including anxiety, insomnia, and social stigma

Bed bug infestations are well-documented to cause significant psychological harm including anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbance in affected residents.

Which pest management strategy focuses on sealing entry points to prevent pests from entering a structure?

Answer: Exclusion

Exclusion involves physical modifications such as caulking gaps and installing door sweeps to prevent pest entry.

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.

A technician is mixing a concentrated pesticide and splashes some in their eye. What is the FIRST action they should take?

Answer: Flush the eye with clean water for 15–20 minutes

Immediate flushing with water for at least 15–20 minutes is the standard first-aid response for eye exposure to pesticides.

A beetle larva that moves upward through the soil in spring to a food source is displaying:

Answer: Negative geotaxis

Moving upward is negative geotaxis — movement directed against gravity — typical of larvae ascending to roots or shoots in spring.

What role does 'record keeping' play in an IPM program?

Answer: It provides historical data to evaluate program effectiveness and refine future decisions

Records of pest counts, treatments, and outcomes allow managers to analyze trends, evaluate tactic effectiveness, and make data-driven improvements to the IPM program.

Which key principle of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) distinguishes it from conventional pesticide-only pest control?

Answer: IPM uses economic and action thresholds to guide decisions and combines multiple control tactics

IPM integrates monitoring, thresholds, and multiple tactics (biological, cultural, mechanical, chemical) to manage pests while minimizing environmental and health impacts.

When disposing of empty pesticide containers, which step is required by label directions before disposal?

Answer: Triple rinse or pressure rinse the container

Triple rinsing or pressure rinsing empty pesticide containers removes residues so the container can be safely recycled or disposed of in a landfill.

What role do standard operating procedures play in ACE Nutrition & Dietary Needs?

Answer: Ensuring consistency and quality through documented instructions

SOPs provide standardized instructions ensuring consistent quality regardless of which qualified person performs the work.

Which human behavioral factor most significantly amplifies the risk of flea-borne typhus transmission in urban settings?

Answer: Proximity to feral cat and opossum populations harboring infected fleas

Feral cats and opossums are reservoir hosts for Rickettsia typhi, and their fleas readily feed on humans living nearby in urban environments.

In pest cockroach management, gel bait placement should exploit which behavioral trait?

Answer: Thigmotaxis — place baits in cracks, corners, and harborage edges

Cockroaches prefer surfaces they can touch on multiple sides, so gel baits placed in cracks and tight corners intercept their harborage-seeking behavior.

Which order includes insects known as 'true bugs,' characterized by hemelytra (partially thickened forewings)?

Answer: Hemiptera

Hemiptera (true bugs) have distinctive hemelytra — forewings that are thickened at the base and membranous at the tip — and piercing-sucking mouthparts.

Which insect hormone triggers molting by stimulating synthesis of new cuticle?

Answer: Ecdysone (20-hydroxyecdysone)

20-hydroxyecdysone (the active form of ecdysone) initiates the molting process by activating genes that produce new cuticle beneath the old.

Which of the following best describes arrhenotoky, a reproductive strategy seen in Hymenoptera?

Answer: Unfertilized eggs develop into males (haploid); fertilized eggs develop into females (diploid)

Arrhenotoky is a form of parthenogenesis in which unfertilized, haploid eggs develop into males and fertilized, diploid eggs develop into females, as in bees, wasps, and ants.

The rostrum in hemipteran insects is best described as:

Answer: A segmented beak housing piercing-sucking mouthparts

The rostrum is the beak-like structure of Hemiptera composed of the fused labium forming a sheath around the stylet-form mandibles and maxillae used to pierce and suck.

What taxonomic rank falls directly between Family and Species in the standard classification hierarchy?

Answer: Genus

Genus falls directly between Family and Species in the standard hierarchy; each species is grouped into a genus, and related genera are grouped into a family.

Which term describes an insect cleaning another individual of the same species?

Answer: Allogrooming

Allogrooming (mutual grooming) involves one individual cleaning another of the same species, distinct from autogrooming (self-cleaning).

Which disease can be transmitted by the body louse (Pediculus humanus corporis)?

Answer: Epidemic typhus

The body louse is the vector of epidemic typhus, caused by Rickettsia prowazekii, a disease historically associated with overcrowding and poor sanitation.

Which of the following best explains why IGR (insect growth regulator) baits are less dependent on colony-wide grooming transfer compared to neurotoxic baits?

Answer: IGRs disrupt molting at very low doses, so even small amounts transferred through trophallaxis are effective on nymphs

IGRs are highly active at trace concentrations, so even small amounts transferred during trophallaxis and grooming are sufficient to disrupt molting in developing nymphs and larvae.

The primary circulating sugar in insect hemolymph, used for rapid energy mobilization, is:

Answer: Trehalose

Trehalose, a disaccharide, is the predominant blood sugar in most insects and is synthesized in the fat body from glycogen for rapid energy delivery.