Selective use of Pesticide

Most biological control agents,

including predators and parasitoids,
provide excellent regulation of many
pests with little or no assistance
from humans.
The existence of naturally occurring
biological control agents is one reason
that many plant-feeding insects do not
generally become economic pests.
Pests may also resurge because of the
destruction of predators and parasitoids,
breeding without control from natural
enemies.
The impact of pesticides may extend
over long periods of time and large
areas or
It may last until the delicate numerical
balance is reestablished.

If pesticides are used often, the normal

balance may never be achieved.
Parasitoids or predators may expose to
toxicant while on plants or soil surfaces
or while flying.

They may also ingest the toxic material

while feeding on plant material to obtain
nutrients or water, through predation.
Non-selective pesticides, also
known as broad spectrum
pesticides, destroy a wide variety
of plant and insect pests.

Selectivity is one of the most

important factors involved in
choosing a pesticide.
To Selective use of Pesticides is of
overcome the problem

significant importance for the

effective pest control and to save
the environment and natural
enemies.
Selectivity is the use of pesticides
to kill pests while not affecting
their natural enemies.

There are two types of selectivity.

1. Physiological Selectivity
2. Ecological Selectivity
 Physiological Selectivity

Physiological selectivity is an inherent

property of a pesticide at a particular
dose, regardless how it is used.

It involves movement of pesticide on or

within the arthropod's body, its activation,
or degradation, and excretion. (broad spectrum or specific)
 Ecological Selectivity

Ecological selectivity depends on pesticide

manipulation through timing or placement
and is achieved by applying pesticides in
ways that minimize the exposure of natural
enemies while killing their hosts or prey.
This includes using different
pesticide formulations and
altering the timing of application,
the method of application, and
the spatial (relating to space)
distribution of the treatment.

Applications may be made to only

a portion of the plant/crop.
(e.g. Army worm)
Manipulation of the formulation can limit or
direct the distribution of pesticide residues and
can influence its uptake and penetration in the
natural enemy.
The successful combination of
pesticide use and biological control in
an IPM program is dependent more on
knowledge of the system ,
the ecology and
the behavior of pests and natural
enemies…………….than on the
availability of tools and techniques.
The best approaches for effective pest
control and preserving natural enemies are;

• a combination of tactics including an

understanding of the biology and behavior
of arthropods,
• detailed monitoring of life history and
population dynamics of pests and natural
enemies,
•employment of selective pesticides,

•Preference to bio pesticides,

• use of the least disruptive formulation

of the pesticide,
•application only when absolutely
necessary,

• basing the chemical control on established

economic injury levels,
This graph explains the relationship of the Economic Injury Level to the Economic Threshold.
The red arrow may indicate a pesticide application which was applied at the economic threshold
and did not allow the pest population to reach the Economic Injury Level.
By conserving and protecting natural
enemies we permit them to operate
to their full potential as naturally
occurring sources of biological
control in the urban and agricultural
environment.
Parasite is an organism that lives with a host
(an individual of another species) in a very
close relationship where the parasite is
benefitted from the host.

Parasitoid is an organism that lives the entire

life attached to one host. It is a similar type of
association like parasites, but there is only one
host involved and eventually the host is killed
or sterilised.
predators are organisms that acquire energy by
taking that energy from other organisms.
Therefore, we have a relationship that
positively affects one organism (the predator)
and negatively affects the other organism (the
prey). Predators have these important
characteristics:
1) One predator eats multiple prey during
the predator’s lifetime.
2) Predators tend to be bigger than their
prey.
3) Predators tend to kill their prey.
Parasites are different from predators because
parasites only take resources from one host,
whereas predators eat many prey.
Here are some other common characteristics
of parasites:
1) They are smaller than their hosts.
2) They don’t usually kill their hosts.*
Ok, so, the killing bit is confusing and
wishywashy. I’ll come back to it below.

Like a parasite, a parasitoid infects just one

host per life stage. But parasitoids always kill
their hosts. A parasitoid is an organism that spends a
significant portion of its life history attached to
or within a single host organism in a
relationship that is in essence parasitic; unlike
a true parasite, however, it ultimately sterilizes
or kills, and sometimes consumes, the host.