Buggy Pixels

Agricultural Biology-Ento major. I'm passionate about the implications of poor ag practices on people of low socioeconomic backgrounds. She/Her. 🌈

[lifeinthecuckoosnest]

[moss-mel]

Wolf’s Rain

[creolesasuke]

For those of you who speak French or care to learn more about regional varieties of French, there's a channel on YouTube called Télé-Louisiane which creates content about franco-louisianian culture and languages in (mostly) Louisiana French and Créole. The channel is entirely in French so you'll need to have decent fluency to watch the videos but there are a lot of interesting conversations about language conservation efforts, identity, heritage, inclusion, and history. Those of you who are interested in marginalized languages and language preservation should definitely give this challenge a subscribe and share. Help us try to maintain and revitalize our languages!

https://youtu.be/2zzGBKA1Wo8

Here's a video for kids in Cajun French, for those who want to get a sense of how the language sounds.

https://youtu.be/8FSA3d8mzw8

[buggypixels]

Louisiana Creole: Kouri-Vini

I spent most of my life in Louisiana, from 10 years old to 25 years old. Despite not being born there and at this stage not feeling like I can return to it. I feel a big commitment to wanting the state to be better. Last night I was watching The Expanse and noticed 'Belter Creole'. I recognized some of the words used in and wasn't sure if it was directly based off Louisiana Creole. Long story short, it was a built language for the TV show. However, creole is defined as a mixed language but also considered to be a true language.

I started digging into Louisiana Creole and realized that it's referred to as Kouri-Vini by native speakers. It's a combination of French, West Afrikann, Native American and Spanish. By the 1800s it was the main language in Louisiana. As of today, there is less than 10,000 speakers left.

A lot of the things people love about Louisiana was forged by the black slaves there. We would have never had rock n' roll without the black people who created jazz. We would have never had gumbo, jambalaya, black eyed peas, okra, or rice without it being forced over during the slave trade. While slightly off topic, I recall leaving Louisiana and being confused about how funerals were done elsewhere. When my cousin died as a teenager we filled his casket with his favorite things. An x-box, beer, CDs, games, money, and many letters that we logically know he would never read. I'm not sure if this was a tradition my Louisiana family formed or if it's another form of funeral culture in Louisiana.

At this point I'm rambling, but I feel that learning Kouri-Vini is a way to keep black history alive. We've whitewashed so much out of black culture, taking one thing after another without an ounce of acknowledgment. White people in Louisiana are in denial of all the things we gained from them. I recall native english speakers in Louisiana frowning upon Kouri-Vini like it's dirty to use.

I'm not sure if I have this right, but I want to learn Kouri-Vini. I want to maintain the language that was spoken there. I don't want another cultural stone lost because of white denial. I'm not sure if this counts as a cultural appropriation. If anyone else comes across this who knows more while I'm exploring I'm welcome to more knowledge and feedback.

[buggypixels]

CS150B: Zybooks - Lists

[buggypixels]

Python Coding: Assignment 14

Binary and Code Types

Memory is composed of bits (0s and 1s) and a processor stores a number using base 2 (binary number).

Numeric types like int and float are used to store data. The numeric types support normal math operations.

int: integers that are zero, positive, or negative whole numbers without fractional parts.

float: numbers that can contain fractional parts like decimal points.

Sequence types are containers that hold objects like strings, lists, and tuples. They're objects order by positions in a sequence that have index numbers.

Mapping type serves dicts and dicts act as containers. There's no special ordering in a dict and every object is independent.

1. The list ['a', 'b', 3] is invalid because the list contains a mix of strings and integers.

False, lists can contain mixes of types.

2. Int and float types can always hold the exact same values.

False, int types only represent integers (1, 2, 3), whereas floats can be decimal values (1.5, 16.99).

3. A sorted collection of integers might best be contained in a list.

True, lists contain ordered sequences of elements, so it would make sense to keep such a collection in a list.

Choosing a Container Type

Lists are best used for data that needs to be ordered. Tuples work better for data that should not be changed. If order doesn't matter then a dict should be used.

1. Student test scores that may later be adjusted, ordered from best to worst.

List, the data is being ordered from best to worst and the data can change.

2. A single student's name and their final grade in the class.

Tuple, the student's final class grade is a pair of strings that doesn't change.

3. Names and current grades for all students in the class.

Dict, creates a map from names to grades and allows updates as class progresses.

Name the Code Type and Error

1. Student Code

students = [ 'Jo', 'Bob', 'Amy']

grades = {}

name = input('name:')

grade = input('grade:')

grades.append(name) = grade

Code type is dict and the error is the append. A dict does not use an append function.

2. Employee Code

workers = ('Jo', 'Amy')

del workers[1]

print ('Jo:', workers[0])

Code type is tuple because tuples use parantheses while lists use square brackets. Tuples can't be modified meaning the code del workers[1] is the error.

Code Blocks and Indentation

Code block is a series of statements that are grouped together. In Python this is shown through indentation level. The initial code block has no indentation. When an if or else statement is used there is no indent. The directions inside the if/else statement IS indented until it is completed.

1. The standard number of spaces to use for indentation is 4.

True, PEP8 suggests 4 spaces.

2. Mixing spaces and tabs when indenting is considered an acceptable programming style.

False, a programmer should never mix tabs and spaces.

3. A programmer can start new code blocks at any point in the code, as long as the indentation for each line in the block is consistent.

False, new code blocks may only begin after a statement that ends with a colon ":" such as "if" or "else".

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Ag Econ Pre Chapter 11

1. If an activity generates a cost that is incurred by people other than those who pursue the activity, then the activity generates a:

External cost / Negative Externality

Definitions

Externality

an external cost or benefit of an activity

External cost/Negative Externality

A cost of an activity that falls on people other than those who pursue the activity.

External Benefit/Positive Externality

a benefit of an activity received by people other than those who pursue the activity.

2. Antibiotic use generates a negative externality to the extent that

Antibiotic use by one person can decrease the effectiveness of antibiotics for others because bacteria can develop antibiotic resistance.

3. In a market for a good whose production involves no externalities:

equilibrium price and quantity are socially optimal.

4. The Coase theorem states that if people can at no cost negotiate the purchase and sale of the right to perform activities that cause externalities, then they can ____ arrive at efficient solutions to the problems created by externalities.

Always

5. True or false: The Coase Theorem implies that there is no need for laws and regulations concerning activities that generate externalities because people should be able to arrive at efficient solutions to the problems caused by externalities.

False.

6. A cost or benefit of an activity that falls on people other than those who pursue the activity is:

An externality.

7. The socially optimal level of pollution is:

The level at which the marginal cost of pollution abatement equals the marginal benefit of pollution abatement.

8. Antibiotic use generates a positive externality to the extent that:

antibiotic use by one person can prevent others from contracting contagious bacterial infections.

9. One solution to negative externalities is to _____ activities that generate negative externalities.

tax

10. The picture depicts a good that generates a:

Negative externality. Since Social MC is greater than Private MC, this good generates a negative externality.

11. The tragedy of the commons is the tendency for a resource that has no price

The use of a resource until its marginal benefit falls to zero.

12. The Coase Theorem states that people can always arrive at efficient solutions to the problems created by externalities if:

they can negotiate at no cost the purchase and sale of the right to perform activities that cause externalities.

13. If a commonly held resource can be successfully placed under private ownership, the tragedy of the commons:

can be avoided.

14. The government is more likely to develop laws and regulations concerning activities that generate externalities when it is _____ for people to negotiate the purchase and sale of the right to perform those activities.

easy

If it is difficult for people to achieve private solutions to externalities, government intervention may be necessary.

15. The private ownership of natural resources is _____ solution to the tragedy of the commons.

not always a practical

16. The socially optimal level of a negative externality is:

the level at which the marginal cost of reducing the externality equals the marginal benefit of reducing the externality.

17. One way to improve economic efficiency is to tax activities that generate _____ externalities.

negative

18. The most efficient system of pollution abatement is one in which the marginal cost of pollution abatement is

the same for all firms.

19. The tendency for a resource that has no price to be used until its marginal benefit falls to zero is known as:

the tragedy of commons.

20. If the government imposes a tax on pollution, then firms with the highest marginal cost of pollution abatement will:

reduce pollution the least.

21. One solution to the tragedy of the commons is to:

place the commonly held resource under private ownership.

22. Although private ownership of natural resources can be a good solution to the tragedy of the commons, private ownership:

is not always practical.

23. Auctioning pollution permits concentrates pollution abatement in the hands of firms that:

have the lowest marginal cost of pollution abatement.

Firms with a low marginal cost of pollution abatement will be better off reducing pollution than paying for a permit.

24. Consider the phrase, "once people have to pay for their emissions, they quickly find ingenious ways of reducing them."This refers to which of the following?

Tradable pollution permits work.

25. If the cost of reducing air pollution by one ton is higher for Stark Industries than it is for Wayne Enterprises, then the most efficient way to reduce pollution is to require

Wayne Enterprises to reduce pollution by one ton.

26. Taxing pollution concentrates pollution abatement in the hands of firms that

have the lowest marginal cost of pollution abatement.

27. If the government auctions pollution permits, then firms with the lowest marginal cost of pollution abatement will:

reduce pollution the most.

Firms with a low marginal cost of pollution abatement will be better off reducing pollution than paying for a permit.

28. One criticism of carbon taxes suggests that they are worthless unless other countries also tax carbon accordingly. What is one solution to this reasonable argument against taxes?

a tax on imported goods from countries that fail to enact carbon taxes at home.

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Ag Econ

1. A pure monopolist is:

The only supplier of a unique product with no close substitutes.

2. The demand curve facing an imperfectly competitive market is:

Downward-sloping

3. A firm that has market power:

Can raise the price of a good without losing sales

Faces a downward-sloping demand curve

4. If a single firm controls an input essential to the production of a given product, then that firm:

will have market power

5. A firm with at least some latitude to set its price is a:

price setter

6. A market in which there is only one supplier of a unique product with no close substitutes i a(n):

pure monopoly

7. Patients and copyrights are a source of market power.

True

8. If an imperfectly competitive firm raises the price of its product by a small amount, then it will:

lose some, but not all, of its customers

9. When the government issues a license giving on firm the right to produce and sell a product exclusively, it is:

granting the firm market power.

10. If a firm has market power, then it faces a(n):

downward-sloping demand curve.

11. Suppose one firm owns all of the cranberry farms in the world. We can predict that this firm:

will have market power.

12. If a firm doubles all of its inputs and output exactly doubles, then the production process exhibits:

constant returns to scale.

13. A price setter is

a firm with at least some latitude to set its own price.

14. The more people use a given social media platform like Facebook, the more valuable it becomes. This suggests that ____________ are likely to be an important source of market power for Facebook.

network economies

15. Which of the following gives the inventors or developers of new products the exclusive right to sell those products for a specified period of time?

Patents

16. For products that have extremely high fixed costs relative to their marginal cost, the average total cost of production will typically _______ as output increases.

decrease

17. One way that the government might maintain the rustic quality of the experience in a place like Rocky Mountain National Park would be to:

grant exclusive concession licenses to a vendor that adheres to certain requirements.

18. Which of the following is the same for a monopolist and a perfectly competitive firm?

The calculation of marginal cost.

19. A firm that has market power:

faces a downward-sloping demand curve.

Can raise the price of its good without losing all of its sales.

20. The additional revenue a monopolist receives from selling an additional unit of output is:

less than the price of the product.

21. If all inputs are increased by a fixed proportion, and you observe output increases by that same proportion, the production process exhibits:

constant returns to scale.

22. A profit-maximizing monopolist will choose the level of output such that:

its marginal revenue equals its marginal cost.

23. Network economies arise when products

become more valuable as more people use them.

24. A monopolist will always earn an economic profit.

False, a monopolist will only earn an economic profit if the price exceeds the average total cost at the profit-maximizing level of output.

25. When start-up costs are high relative to marginal cost, the production process is likely to exhibit which of the following?

Increasing returns to scale.

26. For a monopolist and a perfectly competitive firm, the calculation of marginal cost:

is the same.

27. A monopolist's marginal revenue from selling an additional unit of an output:

is less than its price.

28. The profit-maximizing level of output for a monopolist is inefficient because at the profit-maximizing level of output:

P > MC, At a monopolist's profit-maximizing level of output, P > MC, implying that the benefit to consumers of the last unit produced is greater than the cost of producing it.

29. The profit-maximizing rule for a monopolist is to choose the level of output such that:

MR = MC

30. The practice of charging different buyers different prices for essentially the same good is known as:

price discrimination.

31. Monopolists _______ earn an economic profit.

sometimes

32. A perfectly discriminating monopolist:

Charges each buyer exactly his or her reservation price.

33. For products that have extremely high fixed costs relative to their marginal cost, the average total cost of production will typically _______ as output increases.

decrease

34. Which of the following is the same for a monopolist and a perfectly competitive firm?

The calculation of marginal cost.

35. The practice by which a seller offers a discount to all buyers who overcome some obstacle is known as:

The hurdle method of price discrimination

36. A monopolist's profit-maximizing level of output, the benefit to consumers of the last unit produced is ______ the marginal cost of producing it.

greater than

37. Price ________ is the practice of charging different buyers different prices for essentially the same product.

discrimination

38. Price discrimination always hurts consumers.

False.

39. A firm that charges each buyer exactly his or her reservation price is a _______.

perfectly discriminating monopolist.

40. When start-up costs are high relative to marginal cost, the production process is likely to exhibit which of the following?

Increasing returns to scale.

41. Student discounts and mail-in rebates are examples of:

price discrimination

42. The hurdle method of price discrimination refers to ______.

The practice by which a seller offers a discount to all buyers who overcome some obstacle.

43. The profit-maximizing level of output for a monopolist is inefficient because at the profit-maximizing level of output:

P > MC

44. Price discrimination ______ consumer surplus.

can sometimes increase

45. A perfectly discriminating monopolist:

charges each buyer exactly his or her reservation price.

46. Which of the following are examples of price discrimination?

Mail-in rebates

Discounted airfare for passengers who purchase their tickets 21 days in advance.

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Plant Insect Herbivory

Primary Herbivorous Insects

Non-complex foods

Orthoptera, Phasmotodea, Thysanoptera.

Complex foods

Hymenoptera, Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Diptera, Hemiptera.

Amount of Insect Herbivores

40-50% of all insects are herbivores

Types of Herbivores

1. Chewing

ancestral form

2. Leaf Mining

3. Plant-Boring

economic damage

fruits/vegetables

4. Sap-Sucking

Inserts stylet into stems/leaves

Insects with this style of feeding pass pathogens/diseases.

5. Gall-Forming

Highly plant-specific

Larval hosts

The World is Green Hypothesis

Herbivores are limited by predators

Hypothesis Error: Not everything that is green is edible.

Why More Plant Matter Isn't Consumed

Morphological Barriers

Spines

Waxy Leaves

Nutritional Barriers

Insects that lack certain gut microbes can't digest cellulose.

Plants with low nitrogen or proteins require the insect to overeat to get dietary needs.

Plants with micronutrient/salt deficit result in insect not getting dietary needs.

Toxins in plants harm predators.

Plants with low water content.

Hidden Costs To Herbivory

Leaf consumption leaves holes in leaves

reduces photosynthesis

reduces seed production

long term reduces food source

Meristem consumption prevents leaf production

Fruit damage

specialized insects for fruits

Insect vector disease

damages host plant through disease

reduces food source

Induces plants chemical defense

plant diverts energy away from reproduction

Honeydew

sugar excrement induces fungal growth

Ecological Impact of Insects on Plants

Limits the geographical range of plants

Reduces growth rate of plants

Impacts plant communities

insect feeds heavily on plant A which allows dominance of plant B

Affects Seed Production

seed feeding insects can remove the possibility of a plant successfully reproducing

Some plants only reproduce once

Plant Response to Herbivory

Escape Time and Space

Temporal Displacement: Plant shifts date of buds opening to starve out their predator.

Insect Response: Insect synchronizes to host plant.

Habitat Location: plant shifts habitat location to avoid an expected predator.

Morphology: Modify leaf shape to an unexpected shape.

Insect Response: Learns to look for different leaf formations.

Olfaction: evolves out of producing certain compounds to avoid predators that are attracted to its scent.

Plant Resistance

Physical

plant produces hooks/spines/hairs

Chemical

Acute Toxins

immediate toxicity

high potency = death

Chronic toxins

overtime toxicity

low potency = illness

Toxin Presence

Constitutive

allelochemicals/toxins

always present with or without attack

Inducible

allelochemicals/toxins produced as needed

constant production is costly

Insect Adaptations To Chemical Plant Defense

Behavioral adaptations

selective feeding to avoid toxicity

leaf rolling/web-spinning leaves of phototoxic

trenching, eating around leaf veins

Biochemical adaptation

enzymes in gut to detoxify

Physiological adjusts gut pH, lessens toxicity

sequesters toxin

Herbivores + Microbes

orally secretes bacteria to suppress plant defenses

Plant Defense: Tolerance

focus energy into regrowth.

bares through the attack.

may overstimulate growth with the expectation of more attacks.

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Insect Behavior: Innate and Learned Behavior

Innate

Innate

instinctive behaviors such as mating, to consume plants or others, and avoidance of being preyed upon.

Fixed Action Patterns

A complex innate behavior that is species specific. The behavior is triggered by an external stimulus, once the behavior is start it has to be followed through until completion. Even if the behavior is disrupted the species will continue until it can complete its task.

Fixed Action Pattern Without Disruption

Triggering Event -> Goose's egg rolls out of nest ->

Behavior Triggered -> Goose rolls egg back into nest ->

Completed Behavior

Fixed Action Pattern With Disruption

Triggering Event -> Goose's egg rolls out of nest ->

Behavior Triggered -> Goose begins to roll egg back into nest ->

Disruption Event -> Asshat scientist switches egg with beer can ->

Continuing Behavior -> Goose rolls beer can back into nest

Completed Behavior

Learning

Associative Learning

Situation-dependent learning, choosing an action based on the situation you're in.

Ex. choosing host quality, learning odors to choose hosts, learning actions to locate food.

Transitive Inference

The inference of a relationship is based on previous knowledge.

bees/waps seek out sugar ->

soda cans have lots of sugar ->

also gets caffeine from the soda ->

memory becomes stronger every time they get sugar from soda -> seeks out soda for caffeine.

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Semiochemicals: Pheromones, Allelochemicals, and Infochemicals.

Semiochemicals

Chemical signal between organisms that alters behavior.

Pheromones: chemical signals within a species.

Allelochemical: chemical signals between different species.

Pheromones

Alarm Pheromone

The release of a certain pheromone that signals to a colony to do a defensive action. Occurs with social insects.

Ex. Aphids wiggle, bees swarm and sting.

Aggregation Pheromones

Common in aposematic species (species that exhibit warning colors). Gathering together exhibits strong warning signs.

Epideitic Pheromones

A marker placed by a female to indicate a host has been used. Keeps others away from using things.

Allelochemicals

Allomones

An chemical set off by prey that is an irritant to the predator. It's positive for the prey but neutral or slightly negative to the predator.

Ex. Predator goes to eat a caterpillar -> the caterpillar sprays its stink gland -> the predator decides to not eat the prey.

The only thing wasted is the energy of the predator.

Kairomones

A chemical that is released that attracts a predator. Negative for the prey but positive for the predator.

Ex. male releases pheromone to signal other males away from a female -> wasp picks up on pheromone -> wasp parasitizes eggs.

Synomone

A call for defense that benefits both predator and prey.

Plant releases alarm pheromone -> Parasitoid wasp picks up on this as an allelochemical -> Parasitoid wasp lays eggs in the attacker.

Infochemical

Infochemical

sex pheromone traps used in agriculture

used to monitor emergence times, pest density, invasive species detection, aids control programs, disrupts mating behaviors, and can act as bait for insecticides.

[buggypixels]

Reviewing Assigned Paper

Goal of the research:

To differentiate between the two hypothetical causes of inbreeding depression. Partial dominance hypothesis and Overdominance.

Partial Dominance Hypothesis

an increased expression of deleterious recessive alleles.

Overdominance Hypothesis

loss of favourable heterozygote combinations. predicts a decline in fitness but not necessarily increased extinction.

What questions are being asked

Is inbreeding depression greater in life-history than morphological traits? Which of the two hypotheses is the major underlying cause of inbreeding depression? Does inbreeding elevate population extinction risk?

Why is this important?

Inbreeding depression thus has potential significance for the management and conservation of endangered species (Hedrick and Kalinowski 2000), and it is important that the causes, costs and patterns of inbreeding depression are well understood. Understanding which one is right, partial dominance or overdominance, can help with this.

Hypothesis

The primary aim of this experiment was to distinguish between the two mechanisms that might cause inbreeding depression by comparing traits in lines with different histories of inbreeding and different heterozygosity levels.

If overdominance is responsible then the crossed lines should be similar to the outbred lines

If partial dominance was responsible then we should have seen a small increase in trait values of the cross-bred lines.

Results

Outbred lines were far higher than either the inbred or crossed-inbred lines.

we think the evidence weakly supportive of the partial dominance idea.

Our study also reveals significantly higher extinction risk of inbred lines compared to outbred lines, supporting the notion that inbreeding increases the extinction risk of small, inbred populations.

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Ag Econ: Quiz 8

1. The difference between the horizontal and vertical interpretation of the demand curve

Horizontal Demand Curve

Consumers will immediately look for a substitute if the price changes.

Vertical Demand Curve

Consumers have no choice but to accept the price no matter how much it rises.

2. Finding a shut-down price in a graph

Shut-Down Price

Where the marginal cost (MC) and the average variable cost (AVC) intersect.

3. What kind of price does a profit-maximizing firm in a perfectly competitive market choose?

MR= ΔTR/ΔQ

Marginal Revenue = Marginal Cost

Marginal Revenue: The amount of revenue a business could gain from selling one more unit.

Marginal Cost: The cost of producing and selling one more unit.

Profit-maximizing firm: a business whose primary goal is to maximize the amount of profit it earns.

Perfectly competitive market: a market in which no individual supplier has a significant influence on the market price of the product.

4. What does a firm do if its revenues cannot cover its variable costs?

Shut down, they can't afford to produce goods.

5. Can a PPC be upward-sloping and why or why not?

A production possibility curve can never be upward sloping. This is because you have to reduce production somewhere else in order to produce the alternative.

6. How are the concepts of diminishing returns and the slope of the marginal cost curve related?

The marginal cost curve will initially be downward sloping, representing added efficiency as production increases. If the law of diminishing returns holds, however, the marginal cost curve will eventually slope upward and continue to rise.

7. What does "buyers and sellers are price-takers" mean?

Meaning that both buyers and sellers have to eventually submit to the overall trend of the market.

8. In a market with five buyers and five sellers with given reservation prices, how does one calculate total economic surplus at the equilibrium?

Consumer surplus: above the equilibrium point.

1/2 (base x height)

Producer surplus: below the equilibrium point

1/2 (base x height)

Total Economic Surplus: Consumer Surplus + Producer Surplus

9. What is the economic surplus if sellers and buyers with the same reservation prices are forced to trade with each other, and is this scheme efficient?

Overall economic surplus is lower than if free trade is done. This is less efficient.

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Pest Management: Pesticides, Resistance, and Biocontrol

The Problem With Pesticides

1. Extremely Toxic To Helpful Insects

Insect predators, parasitoids, pollinators, and soil arthropods.

Herbivore insect pests naturally process toxins from plants which makes them more resistant to pesticides.

2. Pest Resurgence

After removing predators for pests a population resurgence occurs.

3. Secondary Pest Outbreaks

Chemical control removes the primary pest but then a secondary pest takes over.

4. Adverse Environmental Effects

Biomagnification: the movement of toxins from lower trophic levels to higher trophic levels.

+ shows the accumulation of toxin

pesticide on grass + < mouse ++ < snake +++ < hawk ++++

Bioaccumulation: the process where chemicals accumulate in an organism over its lifespan because of exposure to it in the soil, water, or air.

5. Human Health Concerns

The handling and application of pesticides can be extremely harmful to humans. Causes death and permanent injuries. (cancer, blindness)

6. Insecticide Resistance

The increase in insecticide use has resulted in over 700 insect species that are resistant to insecticides. Agricultural losses have worsened.

Cross-Resistance

The resistance built from one pesticide resulted in resistance to other pesticides with similar chemical structures.

Multiple Resistance

When an insect has more than one detoxification mechanism in its body that makes them resistant to multiple pesticides.

Mechanisms of Resistance

1. Behavioral Avoidance

Insects learn to avoid places on the plant where insecticide has been applied.

2. Physiological Changes

Sequestration: The insect population begins building up the insecticide in their body to help deter predators.

Reduced Penetration: The insect population begins producing thicker cuticles which decrease the penetration of pesticides.

Accelerated Excretion: The insect body processes the pesticide faster to expel it and minimize its effects.

3. Biochemical Detoxification

The insect body becomes capable of detoxifying pesticides.

4. Target-Site Resistance

The site in the insect body that produces the desired effect from pesticides becomes less sensitive.

How Does Resistance Spread in a Population?

An insect that has genetically resistant to pesticides survives to reproduce. This results in the passing of the resistant trait. An insect that does not have this resistance trait dies due to the pesticides. Over time a population is built having pesticide resistance.

Types of Biocontrol

Classical Biocontrol

Introduction of a predator to consume a pest. Purpose to maintain control of a pest population naturally.

Augmentative Biocontrol

Also called Inundative Biocontrol. The temporary introduction of a predator to an unnatural environment to control a pest population. Predators and pests cannot survive outside of this environment. (Greenhouses)

Conservation Biocontrol

Habitat gets modified for the favorability of natural predators.

Other Pest Control Approaches

1. Plant Resistance

Selective plant breeding to create resistance to insect consumption. Results in evolutionary pressure on pests that are resistant to the modification building over time.

2. Physical Control

The physical removal of an insect pest. Only works in small greenhouses or households.

3. Cultural Control

Altering the time of planting or intercropping other species of plants.

4. Pheromones/Attractants

Pheromone traps.

5. Sterile Male Technique

Introduction of sterile males into the population where female pests can only mate once. Results in a decrease in pest populations.

6. RNA Interference

Gene editing pest populations

What Are Genetically Modified Crops?

A gene from a plant that is resistant to a certain disease or insect population is incorporated into a different plant.

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Pest Management: What Makes an Insect a Pest?

How Insects Become Pests

1. Accidental Introduction

An insect is introduced into a population where they have no natural enemies. This results in them creating a lot of damage without natural population control measures.

Ex. Invasive species such as lanternflies that damage forests

2. Vector Diseases

An insect causes minor physical damage through feeding (human or plant) but is a vector for disease. Resulting in the passage of disease to humans or plants.

Ex. Mosquitoes for humans. Leafhoppers for vineyards.

3. Native Insects Attack Introduced Crops

A insect finds a new preferred food source from an introduced crop.

Ex. A species of beetle that is native to the US preferred feeding on the introduced crop of potatoes. Beetle was then able to spread throughout the US because of more food availability.

4. Monocropping

The growth of a single agricultural product attracts large aggregations of an insect to its preferred food source.

5. Improper Use of Insecticides

Overuse: Insects become genetically resistant over time. Resulting in the resurgence of a pest.

Misuse: Kills natural enemies of a pest insect causing secondary outbreaks of the pest.

Historical Overview of Pest Management

Biocontrol Natural

A pest of grains is parasitized by a species of wasp. Resulting in higher yields of grain.

Intentional Biocontrol

In China (324 BCE) it was recorded that a certain species of weaver ants could control caterpillars on citrus trees. In the late 1800s the citrus industry was failing in California due to cottony-cushion scales. A species of beetle and parasitic fly was introduced and able to help successfully grow citrus.

Chemical Control

Sulfur was used by Sumerians in Mesopotamia to control mites and other pests.

[buggypixels]

Pest Management: Equation for Economic Injury Level and Other Terms

Terminology

Economic Injury Level (EIL): The lowest population density that causes economic damage.

Cost (C): The cost of control measures put into each unit of agricultural crop produced.

Value (V): The market value of a crop.

Damage (D): The crop yield loss per number of insects

Injury Reduction (K): The effectiveness of the control method used. How much of the insect population is reduced from using this method.

EIL = C/(VDK)

Economic Threshold (ET): The pest density when control methods need to be applied to prevent pest populations from reaching economic injury level (EIL).

General Equilibrium Population of Pest (GEP): The average pest population in absence of control methods.

The Different Economic Categories That Pests Can Fall In

Non-Economic Pest:

Graph A. The populations never each the Economic Threshold (ET) where insect control methods need to start being applied.

Occasional Pests:

Graph B. The populations occasionally reach Economic Threshold (ET) where insect control methods need to start being applied.

Perennial Pests:

Graph C. The populations frequently reach Economic Threshold (ET). This can occur once a year or more frequently depending on the insect species. Insect control methods need to be frequently applied to ensure Economic Injury Level (EIL) doesn't occur.

Severe Pests:

Graph D.

Also called Key Pests. The populations will always reach Economic Injury Level(EIL). Insect control methods must be continuous to maintain crops.

Limitations of EIL

1. Designed for agriculture. Sensible use of pesticides is required.

2. This doesn't account for external factors like natural enemies or pesticide resistance.

3. Some pests have an Economic Threshold near 0. These pests are vectors for plant pathogens. Meaning they pass on diseases to plants despite causing minimal physical damage to the plant themselves.

4. Economic Injury Level equation isn't suited for multiple pests impacting crops.

[buggypixels]

Medical and Veterinary Entomology Lecture

Terminology

Disease: An abnormal condition that impairs bodily function associated with certain symptoms and signs. Does not always involve a pathogen.

Pathogen: disease-causing organism

Host: an organism that harbors another organism.

Vector: an organism that transmits a pathogen from a reservoir to a host. To be a vector (mosquito) the one carrying the pathogen (malaria) must be a different species to the one carrying the pathogen (human).

Insects that cause diseases

The insect causes disease but there is NO pathogen involved.

Pediculosis

The infestation of lice in the head, body, or pubic hair. The lice are specialized to human hosts. The saliva of the louse causes an allergic reaction that results in itching. The itching results in sores on the skin.

Scabies

A disease caused by a mite, Sarcoptes scabiel, that is specialized to human hosts. Mites are not an insect but a type of arachnid. These microscopic mites burrow under the skin. Their droppings are what results in itchy rashes of the skin. Itching can worsen at night due to the increase in body temperature. It is most commonly spread between adults through sexual contact. However, it can spread between family members through normal physical contact.

Myiasis

(Diptera: Calliphoridae, Sacrophagidae, Muscidae)

An infection of blowfly larvae that feed on the living tissue of humans and livestock. Blowfly larvae that infects livestock is an economical problem. A method of control in certain species of blowfly is called the sterile-male technique (SIT). Where sterile males are introduced to a population to lower the success in mating with females.

Insects as Vectors of Disease-Causing Pathogens

Modes of Pathogen Transfer

Mechanical Transfer

Pathogens do not replicate in the vector. The vector picks it up and then transfers it over to a host. Within the host, replication begins.

Biological Transfer

Propagative: pathogens replicate within the vector.

Cyclodevelopmental: Pathogen undergoes development but doesn't reproduce within the vector.

Cyclopropagative: Pathogen undergoes development and replication within the vector.

Biological Transfer: Single Cycle

human-to-vector-to-human.

Insect picks up the pathogen from human A. Pathogen undergoes some sort of development or replication within the insect vector. Insect vector then goes on to pass pathogen to human B.

Possible to eliminate in humans since it moves from human to vector to human.

Biological Transfer: Secondary Cycle/Zoonotic

human to vector to human OR animal.

animal to vector to human.

Animal hosts are called reservoirs.

Harder to eliminate in humans because of more variability for implantation. Can be moved through multiple species of vectors. Then it is able to be implanted in both humans and animals.