Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
•
The target pest, which is the pest you are trying to control (e.g.,
gypsy moth insecticide).
•
The group of pests controlled (e.g., herbicides, insecticides).
The last of these is the most common classification scheme and is based
on the pest group controlled.
Pesticide Group
Pests Controlled
Acaricide
Mites, ticks, spiders
Avicide
Birds
Bactericide
Bacteria
Fungicide
Fungi
Herbicide
Weeds
Insecticide
Insects
Miticide
Mites
Molluscicide
Snails, slugs
Nematicide
Nematodes
Piscicide
Fish
Predacide
Vertebrates
Rodenticide
Rodents
A.
CHEMISTRY
This list does not include those pesticides which are either not normally
used as pest control agents (plant growth regulators, defoliants, and desiccants)
or are not directly toxic to the pest (attractants and repellents).
Chemical pesticides can be divided into two main groups: the inorganic and
organic compounds. As we will see, a third group of pesticides consists of
natural disease-causing agents.
1.
Inorganic Pesticides
The inorganic pesticides are those which do not contain carbon. They are
of mineral origin and commonly contain either arsenic, copper, boron, mercury, sul-
fur, tin, or zinc. The inorganics were the most important of the early pesti-
cides and were the principal chemicals used for pest control prior to World War
II. They are still used today, primarily for the control of plant diseases and as
wood preservatives. They are, however, usually toxic to a wide range of or-
ganisms, a characteristic which is often not desirable (except in the case of
wood preservatives). They also are generally less effective than many of the
organic compounds. Some do have relatively low acute toxicity to humans,
