ACE Grooming Techniques 5

Question 1

Honey bee workers observed grooming each other in an unusual frenetic pattern immediately after a pesticide application event most likely indicates:

Accepted Answer

Contact with an irritant or toxic residue that bees are attempting to remove from nestmates

Answer

Frenetic, widespread allogrooming after a pesticide event suggests bees are detecting and responding to toxic or irritant contamination on nestmates.

Question 2

Which sensory organ is most directly cleaned during leg-over-head autogrooming in Diptera?

Accepted Answer

Antennae and arista

Answer

The leg-over-head grooming motion in flies primarily cleans the antennae and the arista, which bear olfactory and mechanosensory receptors.

Question 3

A researcher finds that a new bait toxicant causes worker ants to groom nestmates at a higher rate. This suggests the compound likely:

Accepted Answer

Has a repellent or irritant sub-effect that triggers allogrooming, potentially accelerating colony transfer

Answer

Compounds that stimulate grooming may be acting as irritants, and increased allogrooming can speed horizontal transfer of the toxicant through the colony.

Question 4

In stored product pest management, which behavior analogous to grooming contributes to diatomaceous earth efficacy against grain weevils?

Accepted Answer

Weevils cleaning their tarsi after contacting dust deposits, abrading the cuticle and ingesting particles

Answer

Grain weevils clean their tarsi after contacting diatomaceous earth, abrasively damaging their cuticle and ingesting particles that disrupt water balance.

Question 5

Why might indoor dust insecticide treatments lose effectiveness faster in high-humidity environments, specifically related to insect grooming?

Accepted Answer

Moisture causes dust particles to clump, reducing tarsal pickup during grooming

Answer

High humidity causes dust particles to aggregate into clumps that are too large for cockroach tarsi to pick up efficiently, reducing grooming-mediated exposure.

(ACE) Associate Certified Entomologist Practice Test

(ACE) Associate Certified Entomologist Practice Test

ACE Grooming Techniques 5