2. What is a Pest?
A. Latin for plague -
refers to any
troublesome,
destructive or
annoying
organism

3. What is a Pest?
i. Insects - mosquitoes,
grasshoppers, boll weevils
ii. Fungi - Irish potato
crop famine
iii. Viruses -
microorganisms

4. B. Not all are Pests
i. Only 1 out of 8 insects
are classified as pests
ii. Penicillin, antibiotics,
cheese, bread, and wine all
come from fungi
What is a Pest?

5. Pesticides Past to
Present
A. Pesticides -
chemicals that kill
insects, fungi,
nematodes, and
weeds

6. Pesticides Past to
Present
i. Avicides- bird killers
ii. Insecticides- insect killers
iii. Fungicides- fungus killers
iv. Nematocides- nematodes
(round worm) killers
v. Herbicides- plant killers

7. Pesticides Past to
Present
B. First pesticides
i. Naturally
occurring minerals
(arsenic, copper, lead
mercury, sulfur, and zinc)

8. Pesticides Past to
Present
ii. Natural chemicals
produced by plants
a. expensive and
not effective

9. Pesticides Past to
Present
C. Man Made
chemicals were used
during WW II
i. Insects were used to test
chemicals (nerve gases)
instead of humans

10. Pesticides Past to
Present
D. Federal
Insecticide,
Fungicide and
Rodenticide (FIFR)
Act of 1947

11. Pesticides Past to
Present
i. Originally tested for
short-term effects
ii. Amended to test for
long term effects in 1972
iii. By 1970 most
chlorinated hydrocarbons
were banned in the US

12. Pesticides Past to
Present
E. Food Quality
Protection Act (FQPA)
of 1996
EPA regulates all pesticides
based on human health
issues and FDA monitors
pesticide levels in food.

13. 2 Major Groups of
Pesticides
A. Chlorinated Hydrocarbons
i. Most prevalent insecticide
(kills so many different insects)
ii. Cheap and easy to use
iii. Not very toxic to humans in
small amounts

14. 2 Major Groups of
Pesticides
iv. Best known: dichloro-
diphenyl-trichloro-ethane
(DDT)
a. Banned in the US in 1972
- found in human tissue
- killing birds
b. Still in production and widely
used in other countries to kill
insects that cause diseases

15. 2 Major Groups of
Pesticides
B. Organic Phosphates
i. Mainly used in
insecticides
ex. Durasban