VIRGINIA COMMERCIAL PESTICIDE APPLICATORS CORE EXAM / STUDY GUIDE LATEST VERSION / QUESTIONS AND CORRECT ANSWERS / A GRADE SCORE SOLUTION.

VIRGINIA COMMERCIAL PESTICIDE APPLICATORS CORE EXAM /
STUDY GUIDE LATEST VERSION / QUESTIONS AND CORRECT
ANSWERS / A GRADE SCORE SOLUTION.
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Explain the difference between key pests, occasional pests and secondary pests - answersKey pests are nearly alway
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present and require regular control. occasional pests are migratory or cyclical and require intermittent control.
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secondary pests require control only under certain conditions, such as the elimination of a key pest or the absence of a
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natural host.
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what should you do first if you see damage to a plant, animal, or valuable product/ - answersidentify the cause
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what should you do first if you discover a pest that may need to be controlled? - answersmake sure the pest is actually
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responsible for the damage. then accurately identify the pest
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how can pest identification help you develop a good pest control strategy? - answersit allows you to determine basic
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information about the pest, including its life-cycle and when it is most susceptible to control measures.
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name the 5 basic pest groups - answersweeds, parasites and diseases, mollusks, arthropods, and vertebrates.
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why do weeds present such a challenge to pest managers? - answersweeds are often hardy, aggressive, and tolerant
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harsh conditions. many produce large numbers of seeds which can spread over a wide area and remain dormant for a
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long time.
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how can you tell a monocot from a dicot? - answersmonocots (sedges and grasses) have one cotyledon, parallel leaf
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veins, flower parts in multiples of 3 and fibrous roots. Dicots have 2 cotyledons, broad leaves with netted veination, and
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flower parts in multiples of 4 and 5 and usually have taproots.
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name the pathogens that cause most plant and animal diseases - answersfungi, bacteria, mycoplasma, and viruses
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what are the symptoms of viral plant diseases - answersstunting, yellow rings on leaves, wilting, and mosaic patterns
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how do plant parasitic nematodes harm plants? - answersby attacking the roots, stems and leaves. nematode root
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feeding interferes with a plants ability to take up water and nutrients. infected plants wilt and seem to be suffering from
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lack of water or nutrients.
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how do mollusks harm plants? - answersby feeding on foliage and fruit. mollusks reduce the value of commercial
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produce if they feed on harvested plants and fruit.
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,what are arthropods? how do they differ from vertebrates? - answersarthropods are animals with segmented bodies a
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jointed appendages. Arthropods have an external skeleton and may have specialized appendages such as sucking
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tubes, chewing mouth parts, antennae, and pincers. they have no backbones like vertebrates
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what is the difference between gradual and complete metamorphosis? why is it important to know the life cycle stage o
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an insect? - answersgradual metamorphosis includes 3 stages: egg, nymph and adult. there is no pupa stage. comple
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metamorphosis includes 4 stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. insects that develop via complete metamorphosis
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change body form. larvae may not look at all like adults within the same species.it is very important to recognize the
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damaging stage for best treatment results. many insect are pests in one stage but not another. especially larval form.
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what are beneficial insects? and why are they important to agriculture? - answersinsects that are pollinators (bees and
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butterflies) or pest predators (ladybeetles and lacewings). with out pollinators many types of plants could not reproduc
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and beneficial predators feed on harmful insects, mites, and weeds.
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how do mites harm plants? - answersThey suck the plant juices, eat the underside of leaves, and disfigure the plants th
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feed on.
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what is an economic threshold? - answersthe level at which economic losses caused by pest damage, if the pest
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population continued to grow, would be greater than the cost of controlling the pests. reaching an economic threshold
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usually prompts some kind of pest control action.
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how are thresholds important to a sound pest control strategy? - answerssetting a treatment or action threshold is
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essential to prevent the pests in an area from causing unacceptable injury or harm. action thresholds vary: sometimes
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one pest is too many (like a rat in a food processing facility). Thresholds help producers and applicators weigh the cost
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pest control against the cost of a pest infestation
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what is monitoring and how is it important to a sound pest control strategy? - answersregular checking or scouting for
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pests in a designated area. Monitoring will tell you what pests are in an area, how many are in the area, and how much
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damage they are causing. it will help determine if the pest population has reached the treatment threshold and whethe
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control measures have worked.
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what is the difference between prevention, suppression and eradication of a pest? - answersprevention means reduci
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the chances that a pest will become a problem. suppression means reducing pest numbers or damage to an acceptab
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level. Eradication means destroying an entire pest population.
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how could you prevent a pest infestation? - answersplant weed- and disease- free seed, choose plants resistant to
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diseases and insects, and practice good sanitation. other preventative techniques include excluding pests from the
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target area and using pre-emergent herbicides to kill weed seeds.
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briefly define IPM - answersIntegrated Pest Management is an ecological approach to pest control. it is based on the
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habitat and life-cycle of the pest. IPM combines chemical and nonchemical methods into a single plan or strategy. the
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goal of an IPM program is to reduce pest populations to an acceptable level in a way that is practical, cost-effective, an
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safe for the environment as well as human health.
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Give several reasons to use IPM rather than using only a pesticide. - answersIPM programs:
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1. often ensure better success at the treatment site
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2. promote a more balanced ecosystem and are more environmentally friendly
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3. are less likely to lead to pesticide resistance and secondary pest outbreaks
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4. may reduce pesticide use and can help protect beneficial insects
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5. are often more acceptable to the public.
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