NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Pest (organism)

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. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (861x1148, 651 KB) Popis en: Larval form of Demestidae beetle Anthrenus verbasci or (probably ?) is damaging specimen of Sceliphron destillatorius in entomogical collection. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (861x1148, 651 KB) Popis en: Larval form of Demestidae beetle Anthrenus verbasci or (probably ?) is damaging specimen of Sceliphron destillatorius in entomogical collection. ... Genera many, see text Wikispecies has information related to: Skin beetle The skin beetles or Dermestidae (Gyllenhaal 1808) are a beetle family. ... A larval insect A larva (Latin; plural larvae) is a juvenile form of animal with indirect development, undergoing metamorphosis (for example, insects or amphibians). ... Sheep are commonly bred as livestock. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Binomial name Borkh. ... Binomial name Anthonomus grandis Boheman, 1843 Wikispecies has information related to: Boll weevil The boll weevil (Anthonomus grandis) is a beetle measuring an average length of six millimeters (Â¼ inch). ... Cotton ready for harvest. ... Phyla Actinobacteria Aquificae Chlamydiae Bacteroidetes/Chlorobi Chloroflexi Chrysiogenetes Cyanobacteria Deferribacteres Deinococcus-Thermus Dictyoglomi Fibrobacteres/Acidobacteria Firmicutes Fusobacteria Gemmatimonadetes Lentisphaerae Nitrospirae Planctomycetes Proteobacteria Spirochaetes Thermodesulfobacteria Thermomicrobia Thermotogae Verrucomicrobia Bacteria (singular: bacterium) are unicellular microorganisms. ... Traditionally in medicine, a vector is an organism that does not cause disease itself but which spreads infection by conveying pathogens from one host to another, a vector is where the infectious organism does not change its DNA/RNA, for the reason a mosquito will not serve as vectors for... The term disease refers to an abnormal condition of an organism that impairs function. ... Species 50 species; see text *Several subfamilies of Muroids include animals called rats. ... Families Tungidae â€“ sticktight and chigoe fleas (chiggers) Pulicidae â€“ common fleas Coptopsyllidae Vermipsyllidae â€“ carnivore fleas Rhopalopsyllidae â€“ marsupial fleas Hypsophthalmidae Stephanocircidae Pygiopsyllidae Hystrichopsyllidae â€“ rat and mouse fleas Leptopsyllidae â€“ mouse and rat fleas Ischnopsyllidae â€“ bat fleas Ceratophyllidae:-fleas mainly associated with rodents Amphipsyllidae Malacopsyllidae Dolichopsyllidae â€“ rodent fleas Ctenopsyllidae Flea is the common name... The bubonic plague or bubonic fever is the best-known variant of the deadly infectious disease caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis. ... Diversity 41 genera Genera See text. ... Malaria is a vector-borne infectious disease that is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, including parts of the Americas, Asia, and Africa. ...

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. The word Animals when used alone has several possible meanings in the English language. ... Orders Subclass Apterygota Symphypleona - globular springtails Subclass Archaeognatha (jumping bristletails) Subclass Dicondylia Monura - extinct Thysanura (common bristletails) Subclass Pterygota Diaphanopteroidea - extinct Palaeodictyoptera - extinct Megasecoptera - extinct Archodonata - extinct Ephemeroptera (mayflies) Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) Infraclass Neoptera Blattodea (cockroaches) Mantodea (mantids) Isoptera (termites) Zoraptera Grylloblattodea Dermaptera (earwigs) Plecoptera (stoneflies) Orthoptera (grasshoppers, crickets... Families Tetranychidae - Spider mites Eriophyidae - Gall mites Sarcoptidae - Sarcoptic Mange mites The mites and ticks, order Acarina or Acari, belong to the Arachnida and are among the most diverse and successful of all the invertebrate groups, although some way behind the insects. ... Divisions Chytridiomycota Zygomycota Ascomycota Basidiomycota The Fungi (singular: fungus) are a large group of organisms ranked as a kingdom within the Domain Eukaryota. ... Stop editing pages god ... the plane is spreading pesticide. ...

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. A European Rabbit in Australia In Australia, rabbits are the most serious mammalian pests, an invasive species, and are responsible for the extinction of many native animals such as the western quoll. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Lantana invasion of abandoned citrus plantation; Moshav Sdey Hemed, Israel The term invasive species refers to a subset of introduced species or non-indigenous species that are rapidly expanding outside of their native range. ... Binomial name Linnaeus, 1758 The Western honey bee or European honey bee (Apis mellifera) is a species of honey bee. ... The geographical western hemisphere of Earth, highlighted in yellow. ... Africanized bees are hybrids of the African honeybee, Apis mellifera scutellata (or possibly ), with various European honeybees such as the Italian bee A. m. ... Binomial name Echium plantagineum L. Pattersons Curse or Patersons Curse (Echium plantagineum) is an invasive annual plant native to the area surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, but best known in Australia, where it is also known as Salvation Jane (particularly in South Australia). ... The honeybee is a colonial insect that is often maintained, fed, and transported by farmers. ...

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

Related is pestilence, which is any highly-infectious (epidemic) disease. Look up pestilence in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... In epidemiology, an epidemic (from [[Latin language] epi- upon + demos people) is a disease that appears as new cases in a given human population, during a given period, at a rate that substantially exceeds what is expected, based on recent experience (the number of new cases in the population during...