Environmental Studies · Biology

Pesticides and Pest Control

1,208 Questions

Pesticides and Pest Control focuses on the management of invasive species through chemical, biological, and cultural methods. It includes topics like integrated pest management, herbicide targets, and the ecological impacts of toxic chemicals. This subject is frequently tested in environmental science and agriculture exams.

Integrated Pest ManagementBiological Control AgentsHerbicide MechanismsChemical Pesticide ToxicityGenetic Pest ResistanceInvasive Species Management

Pesticides and Pest Control Questions

Multiple choice zoology soil pollution industrial chemicals and their harmful effects toxic wastes and their effects soil pollution-causes

The development of pesticide resistance indicates that

  1. The effect of pesticide has increased

  2. The effect of pesticides has decreased

  3. No effect on the action of pesticides

  4. Gradually increases but the effect of pesticides decreases later on
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Pesticide resistance occurs when a population of pests evolves to survive exposure to a chemical that previously killed them. This means the effectiveness of the pesticide in controlling that population has decreased.

Multiple choice zoology soil pollution industrial chemicals and their harmful effects toxic wastes and their effects soil pollution-causes

DDT is a

  1. Non-biodegradable pollutant

  2. Biodegradable pollutant

  3. Antibiotics

  4. None of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Non biodegradable pollutants are the pollutants that do not get easily degraded or broken down into harmless material. Common examples of such pollutants are DDT (Dichloro diphenyl trichloro ethane), BHC (Benzene Hexachloride), plastics etc.

Multiple choice zoology soil pollution industrial chemicals and their harmful effects toxic wastes and their effects soil pollution-causes

Which one of the following is a pest?

  1. Mouse

  2. Pathogen

  3. Insect

  4. All of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

A pest is an organism with characteristics of damaging or harming its surrounding environment, as it harms agriculture through feeding on crops or parasitizing livestock. 

An animal can also be a pest when it causes damage to a wild ecosystem or carries germs. The term pest is used to refer specifically to harmful animals but it also relates to all other harmful organisms, including fungi and viruses. It is possible for an animal to be a pest in one setting but beneficial or domesticated in another.

Multiple choice zoology soil pollution industrial chemicals and their harmful effects toxic wastes and their effects soil pollution-causes

As insecticides reach at higher trophic level in food chain, their concentration

  1. Increases

  2. Become irregular

  3. Remain constant

  4. Decreases
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The use of persistent chemicals has an effect on the food chain. Chemicals that do not break down are passed from one organism to the next and organisms at higher trophic levels tend to accumulate larger amounts than the organisms they feed on. This situation is known as biomagnification.

Multiple choice zoology soil pollution industrial chemicals and their harmful effects toxic wastes and their effects soil pollution-causes

Pesticides are considered as hazardous because they

  1. Persist in environment

  2. Do not enter food chain

  3. Affect target organism only

  4. Do not kill natural enemy populations
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation
Pesticides are non biodegradable as they can't be degraded by the action of microbes. They enter the water bodies on runoff from fields and gets accumulated in the bodies of fishes. In this way they enter the food chain and reach the higher trophic levels They enter the body of humans and cause serious health hazards. Hence, for this reason, pesticides are hazardous as they persist in the environment. 
So, the correct answer is 'Persist in environment'.
Multiple choice zoology soil pollution industrial chemicals and their harmful effects toxic wastes and their effects soil pollution-causes

To which class of pesticides do DDT, BHC, aldrin and endosulphan belong?

  1. Carbamates

  2. Organophosphates

  3. Organochlorines

  4. Biopesticides
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Organochlorines are very slowly decomposing chlorinated organic compounds, which are lipophilic (show much affinity for the fatty tissue of animals). Examples of Organochlorines are DDT, BHC, Aldrin, Endosulphan etc. So, the correct option "C" (Organochlorines).

Multiple choice zoology soil pollution industrial chemicals and their harmful effects toxic wastes and their effects soil pollution-causes

Trichoderma is known 


a. To have no adverse effect on crop plants.
b. To be a broad spectrum pesticide.
c. As free living fungi in symbiotic association with roots.
d. To be applied as spray on Brassica leaves.

Select the correct statement.

  1. a, b, & d

  2. a, b & c

  3. a & b

  4. a & c
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

  • Trichoderma is the most prevalent culturable soil dwelling fungi. It has no adverse effect on crop plants.
  • It is used as bio fungicide and control agent for bacteria and fungi. Hence, it is a broad spectrum pesticide.
  • It forms symbiotic association with the roots of the plants and is not found free living in the soil.
  • The dried spores of Trichoderma are sprayed on Brassica leaves to kill Alternaria that causes blight of mustard.
Hence, statements a, b and d are correct.
So, the correct answer is 'a,b and d'.

Multiple choice zoology soil pollution industrial chemicals and their harmful effects toxic wastes and their effects soil pollution-causes

The third generation pesticide amongst the following is

  1. JH analogues

  2. Pheromones

  3. Insect propellants

  4. Pathogens
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Third generation pesticide is defined as biodegradable, water soluble pesticide, which are more toxic.
Analogues of the juvenile hormone (JH) are used as an insecticide, preventing the larvae from developing into adult insects. JH itself is expensive to synthesize and is unstable in light. At high levels of JH, larvae can still molt, but the result will only be a bigger larva, not an adult. Thus, the insect's reproductive cycle is broken.  

Thus, the correct answer is option A.

Multiple choice zoology soil pollution industrial chemicals and their harmful effects toxic wastes and their effects soil pollution-causes

Alletherin is a commonly used as

  1. Fertilizer

  2. Herbicide

  3. Growth hormone

  4. Insecticide
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

The allethrins are a group of related synthetic compounds used in insecticides. They are synthetic pyrethroids, a synthetic form of a chemical found naturally in the Chrysanthemum flower.

Thus, the correct answer is option D.

Multiple choice zoology soil pollution industrial chemicals and their harmful effects toxic wastes and their effects soil pollution-causes

Biological control component is central to advanced agricultural production. Which of the following is used as a third generation pesticide?

  1. Pathogens

  2. Pheromones

  3. Insect repellants

  4. Insect hormone analogues
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

The first-generation pesticides, which were used prior to 1940, consisted of compounds such as arsenic, mercury, and lead. These were soon abandoned because they were highly toxic and ineffective. The second-generation pesticides were composed of synthetic organic compounds.

Insect hormone analogues are used as a third generation pesticide. These  are far superior to the lead arsenate and DDT that epitomize the two earlier generations. These chemicals, called as juvenile hormones, are made in two small glands in insect's heads. Juvenile hormone must be secreted at certain stages in an insect's life and not secreted at other times.
A pathogen is anything that causes a disease. 
A pheromone is a chemical an animal produces which changes the behavior of another animal of the same species (animals include insects). Some describe pheromones as behavior-altering agents. Many people do not know that pheromones trigger other behaviors in the animal of the same species, apart from sexual behavior.
Insect repellant  is a substance applied to skin, clothing, or other surfaces which discourages insects (and arthropods in general) from landing or climbing on that surface.
Therefore, the correct answer is option D.

Multiple choice zoology soil pollution industrial chemicals and their harmful effects toxic wastes and their effects soil pollution-causes

Most famous pesticide of the world is 

  1. Methyl isocyanate

  2. DDT

  3. Malathion

  4. None of the above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

DDT is one of the most famous pesticides in the world, and it has been with us for quite a long time. As a pesticide, DDT was first used during world war II. It was so effective as an insect killer that some called it as the "atomic bomb" of pesticides.

Thus, the correct answer is option B. 

Multiple choice zoology soil pollution industrial chemicals and their harmful effects toxic wastes and their effects soil pollution-causes

The pesticide most toxic to vertebrates are

  1. Organo phosphate

  2. Organochlorine

  3. Carbamates

  4. Parathion
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Organophosphate (OP) compounds are the most widely used group of insecticides in the world. Their acute toxicity causes a hazard both to professional and amateur users. OPs were first recognised in 1854, but their general toxicity was not established until the 1930s. Tetraethyl pyrophosphate (TEPP) was the first OP insecticide, which was developed in Germany during World War Two as a by-product of nerve gas development. OPs are all derived from phosphoric acid. They are generally among the most acutely toxic of all pesticides to vertebrate animals. They are also unstable and therefore break down relatively quickly in the environment. So, organo phosphates are more toxic to vertebrates compared to organo chlorine, carbamates and parathion. Thus, option A is correct and other options are wrong.

Multiple choice zoology soil pollution industrial chemicals and their harmful effects toxic wastes and their effects soil pollution-causes

2, 4-D is a 

  1. Insecticide

  2. Weedicide

  3. Fungicide

  4. Rodenticide
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

2, 4-D is a weedicide. 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid  is a common systemic herbicide used in the control of broadleaf weeds. It is a synthetic auxin (plant hormone) and one of the most widely used herbicides in the world. 2,4-D is a possible carcinogen per WHO.

2,4-D was one of the ingredients in Agent Orange, a herbicide widely used during the Vietnam War. 2,4-D is primarily used as a selective herbicide which kills many terrestrial and aquatic broadleaf weeds, but not grasses. It acts by mimicking the action of the plant growth hormone auxin, which results in uncontrolled growth and eventually death in susceptible plants.
Weed is a wild plant growing where it is not wanted and in competition with cultivated plants. Weedicide is the chemical which kills weeds.
Therefore, the correct answer is option B.

Multiple choice zoology soil pollution industrial chemicals and their harmful effects toxic wastes and their effects soil pollution-causes

Which one of the following is a third generation pesticides?

  1. Chemosterilants

  2. Organochlorines

  3. Antifeedants

  4. Carbamates
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Antifeedants are third generation pesticides. With the essential principles of hormonal insecticides worked out, the third generation insecticide may be just a few years away.

First-generation pesticides were primarily used prior to 1940 and consisted of inorganic and organic compounds. 
Minerals such as arsenic, mercury, and lead are inorganic compounds and were used as early pesticides. These minerals, when used as pesticides, posed a problem, because they did not degrade in the environment. The minerals persist and accumulate in the soil until the levels become so high, that the land is unfertile.
Organic compounds were created from plants, and pesticides used the plants developed resistance to insects. These organic compounds are known as botanicals. Pesticides such as pyrethrin come from chrysanthemum flowers. Rotenone is isolated from jewel vine and nicotine is found in tobacco. Unlike Inorganic compounds, botanicals do degrade in the environment and do not persist. However, these pesticides are highly toxic to other organisms such as fish and bees. 
Synthetic botanicals were also produced as first-generation pesticides. They are created chemically to mimic the structure of plant produced botanicals. Pyrethroid, similar to the botanical version of pyrethrin, was an important synthetic botanical because it did not persist in the environment.
Second-Generation Pesticides- Second-generation pesticides differ from earlier pesticides, in which they are created synthetically. They began to be used in the 1940s after Paul Müller discovered DDT in 1939. The three most common groups of second-generation pesticides are Chlorinated hydrocarbons, Organophosphates, and Carbamates. These groups are known as insecticides. Each group displays different properties. Some insecticides are persistent while others break down and do not bioaccumulate. Their toxicity to mammals also fluctuates between insecticides.
Examples of Second Generation Pesticides-
Chlorinated hydrocarbons
            -DDT
            -Methoxychlor
            -Lindane
            -Endosulfan
Organophosphates
            -Methamidophos
            -Dimethoate
            -Malathion
Carbamates
    -Aldicarb
    -Carbaryl
Multiple choice zoology soil pollution industrial chemicals and their harmful effects toxic wastes and their effects soil pollution-causes

DDT is a/an

  1. Carbamate

  2. Organophosphate

  3. Organochlorine

  4. Triazine
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) is a colourless, crystalline, tasteless and almost odourless organochloride. It is known for its insecticidal properties. DDT has been formulated in almost every conceivable form, including solutions in xylene or petroleum distillates, emulsifiable concentrates, water-wettable powders, granules, aerosols, smoke candles and charges for vaporizers and lotions. Thus, the correct answer is option C.