Deck 13: Pests and Pest Control

Question 1

Weeds are types of

A)pathogens that spread disease to humans or between plants.
B)animals or plants that can cause disease.
C)plants that can rapidly spread through lightly airborne seeds.
D)pests that may threaten our health or compete with our food.

Answer 1

pests that may threaten our health or compete with our food.

Question 2

A man discovers that he has a fungus attacking the roots of flowers in his garden.If he uses a broad-spectrum fungicide to kill the pests,he may risk

A)poisoning his children
B)killing beneficial pollinating insects
C)killing beneficial decomposer fungi and mycorrhizae
D)killing many of the flowers he is trying to protect.

Answer 2

killing beneficial decomposer fungi and mycorrhizae

Question 3

DDT quickly became widely used because it

A)was toxic to many types of insects.
B)seemed nontoxic to humans.
C)was inexpensive.
D)All of the choices are correct.

Answer 3

All of the choices are correct.

Question 4

Analysis of bedbug control options has revealed that

A)a single pesticide can give effective control.
B)infestations do not respond to any type of control.
C)adequate control will pose serious health risks to people.
D)a combination of several methods will be needed to have effective control.

Question 5

Suffering the impact of swarms of locusts,a farmer uses an airplane to spray an insecticide over 1,500 acres of his corn field.This farmer is trying to address this pest problem by using

A)a chemical treatment.
B)an agricultural treatment.
C)an ecological control.
D)integrated pest management.

Question 6

The current crisis in controlling bedbugs has encountered difficulties because

A)bedbugs are vectors for serious human diseases and require powerful chemical pesticides.
B)home applications of effective pesticides can endanger children.
C)the only way to get any control is to burn infested bedding.
D)bedbugs are internal parasites that require long doses of antibiotics to eliminate.

Question 7

Despite widespread use of insecticides and herbicides,infestations of insects,plant pathogens,and weeds currently cause a loss of about

A)5% of potential agricultural production in the United States.
B)35% of potential agricultural production in the United States.
C)50% of potential agricultural production in the United States.
D)95% of potential agricultural production in the United States.

Question 8

Herbicides would be most useful in combating

A)mosquitoes that spread malaria in tropical rainforests.
B)weeds that infect our agricultural fields.
C)bacteria,such as Salmonella,which sometimes contaminate meat.
D)fungi that attack plant roots.

Question 9

The effectiveness of DDT in agriculture allowed growers to

A)raise less resistant but more productive crops.
B)raise crops through the winter months.
C)raise vegetables without the need for pollinators.
D)eliminate irrigation in fields where it had been used previously.

Question 10

Insecticides would be most useful in combating

A)mosquitoes that spread malaria.
B)weeds that infect our agricultural fields.
C)bacteria,such as Salmonella,which sometimes contaminate meat.
D)fungi that contribute to molds and mildew that lead to respiratory infections.

Question 11

Weeds are commonly defined as any

A)monocot that has flowers,grows closely to the ground,and consumes nutrients in the soil.
B)dicot that blooms for more than one month of the year and competes with turf grasses for sunlight.
C)plant that competes with crops,forests,or forage grasses for sunlight and nutrients.
D)plant that is found growing outside of its native ecosystem.

Question 12

Chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides,like DDT,are synthetic versions of

A)heavy metals.
B)non-biodegradable,persistent molecules.
C)ions and salts.
D)vitamins and minerals.

Question 13

Control of bedbugs is difficult because their habitat is

A)lawns and gardens frequented by people and pets.
B)initially cats and dogs and then transfers to human hosts.
C)human bedding,cracks in bed frames and nearby household objects.
D)widely dispersed in forested and brushy environments.

Question 14

The local health department is trying to limit the spread of West Nile virus in a suburban community.West Nile Virus is spread by mosquitoes as they feed.In newspapers and on the radio,people in the region are told to drain standing water from any places where mosquitoes might breed.In addition,the health department announces that in a week,they will begin spraying a fog of mosquito poison in the early evening,as soon as the sun sets and mosquitoes become most active.The approach taken by this health department best represents

A)chemical treatment.
B)agricultural treatment.
C)ecological control.
D)integrated pest management.

Question 15

Pesticide resistant insects would

A)have evolved more slowly if the pesticides were used in just a few regions.
B)not have evolved if even more pesticide had been used.
C)have evolved if a different type of pesticide was used each year.
D)have evolved if an herbicide had been used instead of a pesticide.

Question 16

The insects infesting this bag of rice are

A)stored product pests that can live on almost no water and are resistant to pesticides.
B)is a rare species occasionally caught in U.S.grain imports over the past decade.
C)highly diet-specific,eating only certain strains of rice.
D)unsightly,but of no economic or health significance.

Question 17

DDT was widely used,and remains in use today in some countries,to fight malaria by

A)killing the parasite that causes malaria.
B)fouling the water used by mosquitoes for reproduction.
C)killing the virus that causes malaria.
D)killing mosquitoes that are the major malarial vector.

Question 18

Pesticide resistant insects develop from the widespread use of insecticides because

A)pesticides cause mutations in the insects that make them resistant.
B)pesticides increase the biotic potential of some insects.
C)insects learn to avoid the places where insecticides have been applied.
D)over many generations,the naturally resistant pests survive and increase in number.

Question 19

The common definition of pest

A)is based on the negative impacts of an organism on human activities.
B)varies depending upon whether the organism is an herbivore or carnivore.
C)varies widely in the world depending upon the particular culture.
D)is limited to organisms that are plants.

Question 20

A garden is suffering from a quickly growing mold.The most effective treatment for this problem would be the application of

A)an herbicide.
B)a fungicide.
C)a pesticide.
D)a rodenticide.

Question 21

Non-persistent pesticides like organophosphates and carbamates

A)will be far less likely to cause biomagnification and bioamplification than persistent pesticides.
B)will produce fatal toxic effects in all producers and low-level consumers that are exposed.
C)target only the pest species;there are no non-target kills.
D)produce resistance in pest predators but not in the pests themselves.

Question 22

The Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program

A)will test pesticides for their ability to cause cancer.
B)will examine all disease causing aspects of pesticides.
C)is being developed by the EPA and will screen chemicals for potential endocrine disruption.
D)has already identified and banned more than 300 pesticides that disrupt the endocrine system.

Question 23

The levels of mercury are low in the fish eaten almost daily by people living near an ocean.For these people,bioaccumulation means that

A)people eliminate most of the mercury they consume after a single day.
B)mercury builds up in the fish and not the people.
C)mercury has been accumulating in their bodies for many years.
D)mercury and other heavy metals accumulate in the bottom of the ocean and not in the fish they eat.

Question 24

Pesticide resistance against one pesticide

A)is permanently restricted to that one kind of pesticide.
B)can become resistance to many if many are used.
C)can provide protection against herbivores.
D)often harms insects by decreasing their ability to reproduce.

Question 25

In a food chain consisting of toxic soil,toxic grasses,rabbits that eat the toxic grass,and hawks that eat the rabbits,the highest concentrations of toxins would occur in the

A)tissues of the grasses.
B)tissues of the rabbits.
C)tissues of the hawks.
D)soils.

Question 26

In the processes of biomagnification and bioaccumulation described in the figure,

A)the pesticide has to be non-biodegradable (persistent)for the processes to occur.
B)the greatest levels of mortality are in the producers and first level consumers.
C)the concentrations may not be fatal if the top consumers are very small.
D)consumers at the top of the food chain will develop rapid pesticide resistance.

Question 27

A woman has a large garden and decides this year she will not let the pests get beyond control.At the earliest sign of insect pests,she applies an organic insecticide and continues to apply it every month throughout the growing season.The next year the woman decides not to use any insecticides,thinking that she must have eliminated the pests with the prior year's treatments.Unfortunately,the pests reappear in numbers greater than she has ever seen before,and her crops are destroyed.Investigating this phenomenon,she learns that she has just experienced a phenomenon known as

A)resurgence.
B)pesticide resistance.
C)natural selection.
D)emergence.

Question 28

The evolution of pesticide resistance,resurgence,and secondary-pest outbreaks are only some of the problems that result from reliance on

A)crop rotation and biological controls,which disrupt the natural dynamics of ecosystems.
B)pesticides,creating the need to alternate between a pesticide and an herbicide every other year.
C)rodenticides to kill weeds and insect pests and prevent the spread of viral diseases.
D)pesticides,creating a never-ending pesticide treadmill requiring new pest-fighting strategies.

Question 29

Our experience with herbicides and insecticides indicate that

A)both are capable of selecting for natural resistance by evolution.
B)herbicides but not insecticides are capable of selecting for natural resistance by evolution.
C)insecticides but not herbicides are capable of selecting for natural resistance by evolution.
D)neither are capable of selecting for natural resistance by evolution.

Question 30

The pesticides that also function as endocrine disruptors cause disease by

A)causing excessive secretion of stomach acids.
B)mimicking the effects of estrogenic hormones.
C)causing muscle spasms and cramping in major muscle groups.
D)greatly reducing the ability of the intestines to absorb nutrients.

Question 31

If glyphosate-resistant weeds become widespread in the future,we can expect farmers to

A)kill these weeds by applying more glyphosate to their fields.
B)switch to a pesticide that is more effective for this problem.
C)return to traditional tillage,leading to increased soil erosion.
D)switch to raising these "weeds" as a new type of crop.

Question 32

In a food chain,biomagnification is the result of

A)bioaccumulation up the trophic levels.
B)bioaccumulation down the trophic levels.
C)higher levels of toxins than in the organisms living in that region.
D)the elimination of toxic wastes from the body.

Question 33

A gardener applied heavy doses of the same insecticide to her garden for two consecutive years to kill squash bugs.During the third year,although the squash bugs were reduced,the woman called in an expert to explain why she had an abundance of new pests that were destroying her garden.The expert explained that the abundant new pests were largely due to her previous use of an insecticide in a phenomenon known as

A)pesticide resistance.
B)secondary-pest outbreak.
C)triennial pest emergence.
D)bounce back resurgence.

Question 34

Widely applying pesticides may lead to resurgence and secondary-pest outbreaks because

A)the insecticide also killed the natural competitors and predators of the pests.
B)the plants have now lost their ability to fight the pests.
C)pesticides typically harm plants in ways that take several years to appear.
D)new species that are more resistant to insecticides have evolved.

Question 35

Pesticide exposure has been shown to cause diseases of the

A)endocrine and immune systems.
B)muscular and skeletal systems.
C)pancreas and kidneys.
D)ears and eyes.

Question 36

The best way to avoid the evolution of pesticide resistance is to

A)use more of the pesticide anytime resistance appears.
B)use crop rotation and biological controls instead of pesticides.
C)develop new forms of pesticides.
D)apply pesticides to the soil before planting and after harvesting a crop.

Question 37

Many synthetic organic chemicals are concentrated in the fat of carnivores because

A)the chemicals are non-biodegradable or persistent and highly soluble in lipids.
B)the chemicals are highly soluble in water.
C)these animals eliminate toxins from the body by storing them in fat.
D)fat is able to break down toxins more effectively than the liver.

Question 38

The highest amounts of pesticides or their breakdown products would be found in a cougar in its

A)saliva.
B)muscles.
C)kidneys.
D)body fat.

Question 39

Most organisms accumulate synthetic organic chemicals in their bodies because these chemicals

A)are easily converted into molecules that are used to build parts of cells.
B)are a concentrated source of minerals,needed for cellular metabolism.
C)cannot be broken down by the natural metabolic mechanisms.
D)are a major source of calories when food is not available.

Question 40

Chronic pesticide exposure has been clearly linked to

A)malaria and bubonic plague.
B)viral outbreaks.
C)cancer,neurological disorders,and infertility.
D)heart disease and strokes.

Question 41

A foundation wishes to promote sustainable agriculture and organic farming.A consultant suggests that the foundation may want to give money to researchers investigating ecological control of pests.As the foundation reviews grant proposals,they should give the most money to researchers wanting to learn more about

A)the natural relationships between pests,their host plants,and the general environment.
B)the specific nutritional requirements of the desired crops.
C)differences between persistent and nonpersistent pesticides previously used in the region.
D)biomagnification of pesticides used to control the pests.

Question 42

Developing a new form of ecological pest control,researchers engineer crops to produce the pheromones of the pest.The crops now produce the pest pheromone,overwhelming the fields and causing the male pests to fail to find a mate.This new form of ecological pest control combines

A)natural enemies and cultural control.
B)cultural and natural enemies control.
C)genetic and cultural control.
D)genetic and natural chemical control.

Question 43

The dangers of widespread DDT use are largely due to two main characteristics of DDT,its

A)bioremediation and nonpersistence.
B)degradation and nonpersistence.
C)biomagnification and persistence.
D)bioremediation and persistence.

Question 44

Most of the wheat,rice,and corn raised in the world has resulted from genetic engineering of one sort or another,either by crossing certain varieties or deliberately transferring genes using transgenic techniques.These methods select for plants that produce their own defenses against pests with chemicals or physical barriers.Helping to feed the world,this represents an example of

A)cultural control.
B)natural enemies control.
C)genetic control.
D)natural chemical control.

Question 45

Researchers genetically engineer a crop to produce chemicals that attract the natural enemies of a pest.This approach combines

A)natural enemies and cultural control.
B)cultural and genetic control.
C)genetic and natural enemies control.
D)cultural control and natural chemical control.

Question 46

In any food web,biomagnification will result in the highest concentrations of toxins in the

A)lowest trophic level.
B)highest trophic level.
C)highest photosynthetic trophic level.
D)herbivores of the systems.

Question 47

Raising young children who crawl about the floor,Mom does not want to spray chemicals of any sort in or around the home.However,she is well aware of West Nile virus spread by mosquitoes and Lyme disease spread by ticks.Therefore,Mom decides to take a different strategy.Carefully examining and repairing the window screens,window enclosures,and doorways,she closes up any cracks or tears where bugs might get in.This loving mother is protecting her children by using

A)cultural control.
B)natural enemies control.
C)genetic control.
D)natural chemical control.

Question 48

Compared to persistent pesticides,nonpersistent pesticides are

A)less likely to cause resurgences,secondary-pest outbreaks,or promote pesticide resistance.
B)more likely to cause biomagnification and bioamplification.
C)equally as likely to cause resurgences,secondary-pest outbreaks,or promote pesticide resistance.
D)more likely to cause resurgences and secondary-pest outbreaks but less likely to promote pesticide resistance.

Question 49

In many freshwater toxicology studies,investigators rely upon knowledge of biomagnification to guide their investigations.If the researchers were looking for evidence of mercury contamination from a nearby power plant,they would most likely find the highest levels in the blood of

A)herbivorous ducks living near the power plant.
B)rabbits that live near the power plant.
C)tadpoles in water near the power plant.
D)snapping turtles in water near the power plant.

Question 50

Because of biomagnification,the most toxic organisms in any ecosystem will be the

A)producers.
B)primary consumers.
C)secondary consumers.
D)soils.

Question 51

According to recent EPA studies,70% of pesticide poisonings in humans come from

A)heavy metals such as arsenic and lead.
B)persistent chemicals like DDT.
C)non-persistent organophosphates.
D)eating meat tainted with persistent pesticides.

Question 52

a)
b)
Two insect food chains are illustrated in this figure.If a persistent insecticide were applied to the plants in these systems,where would we expect to find the high concentrations due to biomagnification?

A)the grasshopper and caterpillar
B)the praying mantis and caterpillar
C)the caterpillar and parasitic wasp
D)the praying mantis and parasitic wasp

Question 53

Colony collapse disorder

A)affects honey bees colonies leaving most of the workers dead in the hive.
B)has been traced to poisoning by organophosphate pesticides.
C)is thought to be caused by a combination of pesticides,pathogens,hive pests or other synergistic toxic chemicals.
D)is not a threat to U.S.crops because other unaffected pollinators will replace honey bees.

Question 54

When college students first learn about the invasion of zebra mussels into the Great Lakes about 25 years ago,they frequently ask what controls zebra mussel populations in their native regions.If introducing natural zebra mussel predators into the Great Lakes would not cause new problems,this approach might work as an example of

A)cultural control.
B)natural enemies control.
C)genetic control.
D)natural chemical control.

Question 55

Farmers in the Midwestern United States routinely rotate between soybean and corn crops.Sometimes it is said that they do this because the soybeans introduce nitrogen into the soil.Although this is true,farmers also rotate their corn and soybean crops as a form of

A)cultural control.
B)natural enemies.
C)genetic control.
D)natural chemical control.

Question 56

Synergistic effects involving pesticides occur when

A)nonpersistent pesticides are transformed into persistent pesticides.
B)pesticide toxicity interacts with other environmental or chemical factors to produce an unexpected outcome.
C)one pesticide is used to control numerous different pests.
D)beneficial insects or other wildlife become non-target casualties of pesticides.

Question 57

Today the best approach to fighting malaria in developing countries primarily relies on the

A)widespread application of DDT.
B)use of mosquito nets and DDT.
C)use of mosquito nets but not DDT.
D)antimalarial drugs.

Question 58

First published in 1962,the book Silent Spring helped to establish

A)the modern civil rights movement.
B)modern environmental movement.
C)the Food and Drug Administration.
D)the National Wildlife Federation.

Question 59

The bird in this figure is a fish-eating osprey with its chicks.What commonly used pesticide nearly caused the extinction of this and other large predatory bird species in the 1970s?

A)malathion
B)Round Up
C)DDT
D)pyrethroids

Question 60

Nonpersistent pesticides can be more dangerous than persistent pesticides because they usually

A)are more toxic.
B)last longer in the environment.
C)are radioactive.
D)are broken down into nontoxic products within a few weeks of application.

Question 61

The primary job of APHIS is to

A)intercept pests arriving through international or interstate commerce.
B)monitor and evaluate pest control using IPM methods.
C)develop new biological pest control methods.
D)monitor biofouling organisms and their damage to ships,docks and dams.

Question 62

The parasitic relationship illustrated in this figure represents a type of

A)cultural control.
B)natural enemies control.
C)genetic control.
D)natural chemical control.

Question 63

You are tired of watching your crops die in the field from several pest species.You decide that next year you are going to use every type of ecological pest control you can find to address your problem.Over the winter you get ready,ordering pheromones that interfere with the reproduction of the pests,sterile male flies that will try to reproduce with some of the pest flies that you have,and wasps that lay their eggs in the larvae of another of your pests.It is expensive,but you think this should work well.Which of the following forms of control are you not using?

A)cultural control
B)natural enemies control
C)genetic control
D)natural chemical control

Question 64

A promising alternative to toxic pesticides to reduce the billions of dollars damage done by marine biofouling organisms is

A)marine predatory insects that eat the sessile biofoulers.
B)polymers that make it difficult for the organisms to attach to a substrate.
C)attracting fish to fouled sites to eat the fouling organisms.
D)electrified ship hulls,intake pipes and docks to electrocute the pests.

Question 65

The spread of Integrated Pest Management (IPM)continues because

A)traditional methods using pesticides are being outlawed.
B)IPM eliminates pests completely and does not create pesticide resistance.
C)the benefits of IPM are many and the costs are greatly reduced.
D)government regulations worldwide are mandating these techniques.

Question 66

Struggling with various pests attacking the garden every year,a neighbor suggests that next year they might plant a row of marigold flowers completely around the outside edge of the garden.Sure enough,the next year they did this and had fewer pests and better crops.This strategy represents

A)cultural control.
B)natural enemies control.
C)genetic control.
D)natural chemical control.

Question 67

To meet current USDA organic food standards,100% organic certified foods may be

A)genetically engineered.
B)irradiated.
C)fertilized with sewage sludge.
D)meat,grains,or vegetables.

Question 68

Organically grown foods are typically

A)free of all pesticide residues.
B)usually less expensive than non-organic foods.
C)grown with traditional methods,diverse crops,soil conservation and based in local economies.
D)grown on farms that are typically larger than non-organic food farms.

Question 69

The sick tomato plant in this figure is devastated by tomato wilt,a type of fungus that infects the soil with spores and returns every year to attack more tomato plants.One effective way to combat this fungus using ecological/cultural pest control is to

A)keep dead tomato plants from the prior year around to try to divert the fungus to the dead plants.
B)spray a broad-spectrum insecticide over your garden before and after the crops come up.
C)plant something other than tomatoes in this part of the garden next year.
D)rake the soil before planting next year's tomatoes.

Question 70

In using control by natural enemies of pests,from the ecological perspective it is best to

A)import enemies from abroad or from distant ecosystems to have the highest kill rate.
B)select enemies that have a very broad range of pest prey or hosts.
C)couple this method with intensive broad-spectrum pesticide spraying.
D)select enemies that are local and have a narrow specificity for the pest in question.

Question 71

Integrated pest management focuses on

A)eliminating crop damage by using preventative techniques.
B)eliminating crop damage by using only cultural techniques.
C)maintaining crop damage below the economic threshold using preventative techniques.
D)maintaining crop damage below the economic threshold using broad-spectrum pesticides.

Question 72

Farmers who regularly experience pests that cause catastrophic damage once infestation occurs,may benefit from insurance spraying,in which

A)the insurance company pays for the spraying and in turn does not pay for damaged crops.
B)just a small percentage of pesticide is released to warn the pests that more is to come.
C)the crops are sprayed with a pesticide before there is evidence of crop damage.
D)a chemical treatment for one pest is applied,but no broad-spectrum pesticides are used.

Question 73

The use of pesticides crosses the economic threshold when the cost of

A)crop damage is more than the cost of the pesticide.
B)pesticide is more than the cost of the crop damage.
C)harvesting the crop is more than the cost of raising the crop.
D)cost of raising the crop is more than the cost of the crop damage.

Question 74

Flies are destroying your crop despite years of investing in pesticides.Investigating an ecological pest control approach,you learn that the female flies that are killing your crop mate only once,lay their eggs,and then die.In fact,you can purchase sterile male flies to release around your crop to keep these flies from reproducing.Such a strategy represents

A)cultural control.
B)natural enemies control.
C)genetic control.
D)natural chemical control.

Question 75

Bt crops

A)are GM plants that incorporate the gene for producing a potent bacterially produced insecticide.
B)produce chemicals that interfere with the molting of insect pests.
C)should always be planted in pure stands to reduce the chance of Bt resistant pests.
D)produce chemicals that are similar to insect pheromones,interrupting pest mating cycles.

Question 76

Using a broad spectrum chemical pesticide would be counterproductive if you were relying on

A)cultural control.
B)natural enemies control.
C)genetic control.
D)natural chemical control.

Question 77

The cassava is an important food crop for people living in sub-Saharan Africa.In the 1970s,mealybug infestations destroyed harvests and people starved.A researcher who studied the mealybug in its native environment discovered a parasitoid wasp that was a natural predator.After extensive testing to determine safety,the parasitoid wasp was introduced into the sub-Saharan region with tremendous effect controlling the mealybug throughout most of Africa.This approach represented a form of

A)cultural control.
B)natural enemies control.
C)genetic control.
D)natural chemical control.

Question 78

Because it does not affect the crop yield or nutritional value,a local grower advertises that in his orchard he does not use

A)cosmetic spraying.
B)insurance spraying.
C)crop rotation.
D)natural predators.

Question 79

Deciding to use a natural enemies approach to control the mites that infect her crops,a farmer purchases 10,000 ladybugs in the spring and spreads them over her 100 acre fields.This represents the use of natural

A)predators.
B)parasitoids.
C)pathogens.
D)plant-eaters.

Question 80

Indonesia has become a model for other rice growing nations because

A)they switched from heavy pesticide spraying to IPM with help from the FAO.
B)they have planted exclusively the improved GM golden rice.
C)they have brokered cheap prices for importing U.S.made pesticides.
D)rice is planted and grown in undisturbed ecosystems.