Pest Help

Biological Control is defined as the reduction of pest populations by natural enemies and typically involves an active human role. Natural enemies of insect pests, also known as biological control agents, include predators, parasitoids, and pathogens. Biological control agents of plant diseases are most often referred to as antagonists. Predators, such as lady beetles and lacewings, are mainly free-living species that consume a large number of prey during their lifetime.

Parasitoids are species whose immature stage develops on or within a single insect host, ultimately killing the host. Many species of wasps and some flies are parasitoids. Pathogens are disease-causing organisms including bacteria, fungi, and viruses. They kill or debilitate their host and are relatively specific to certain insect groups. There are three basic types of biological control strategies; conservation, classical biological control, and augmentation. These are discussed in more detail below.

A pest is an organism which has characteristics that are regarded as injurious or unwanted. This is most often because it causes damage to agriculture through feeding on crops or parasitising livestock, such as codling moth on apples, or boll weevil on cotton. An animal can also be a pest when it causes damage to a wild ecosystem or carries germs within human habitats. Examples of these include those organisms which vector human disease, such as rats and fleas which carry the plague disease, or mosquitoes which vector malaria.

The term pest may be used to refer specifically to harmful animals but is also often taken to mean all harmful organisms including insects, mites, fungi and viruses. Pesticides are chemicals that are used to control or protect other organisms from pests.

It is possible for an animal to be a pest in one setting but beneficial or domesticated in another (for example, European rabbits introduced to Australia caused ecological damage beyond the scale they inflicted in their natural habitat).

The Western honey bee, one of the most beneficial of all insects, is itself a pest when it escapes into the wild in the Western Hemisphere, where it is not native (e.g., "killer bees"). Many weeds are also seen as useful under certain conditions, for instance Patterson's curse is often valued as food for bees and as a wildflower, even though it can poison livestock.

The concept of a pest is anthropogenic, based on human purposes and perceptions.

Dealing With Pests In a Hydroponic Garden

Termite Tenting Preparation Is Important

Selecting a Pest Control Company

Defending Your Home From Pests