IPM Manual for Landscape Pests in British Columbia
Glossary
Annual plant - a plant that germinates from seed, flowers, produces seed, and dies in the same year; it has a one-year life cycle.
Application rate - the amount of a pesticide product or active ingredient applied to control a pest. It is usually expressed as amount per area (e.g., 30 ml per 10 m2 ), per length of crop row (e.g., 40 g per 10 m length of row) or as a dilution (e.g., mix 50 ml in 4 L of water and spray to thoroughly wet foliage).
Bacteria - one-celled micro-organisms, some of which cause diseases in plants, insects or other animals. They can only be seen with a microscope.
Biological control - the use of beneficial species, such as predatory and parasitic insects, birds, nematodes, or disease organisms to suppress populations of pests.
Broadcast application - an even application of a pesticide over an entire area, as opposed to treating part of the area or only individual plants in the area.
Broadleaf plants - most annual and perennial plants, shrubs and trees with wide leaves. Not grasses, conifers or other plants with needles or grass-like leaves.
Broad-spectrum pesticide - a pesticide that will kill, or affect, a wide range of organisms in addition to the target pests. The opposite of a selective pesticide.
Caterpillar - generally the larval, or immature stage of moths and butterflies (Lepidoptera).
Contact pesticide - a compound that causes the death of an organism when it comes in contact with it; the pesticide does not need to be eaten or inhaled by the organism to be effective.
Deciduous plants - plants that lose their leaves in the fall and have bare branches in the winter.
Defoliation - the loss of leaves from trees, shrubs or other plants, e.g., caused by feeding from leaf-chewing pests or by injury from herbicides.
Dormant / dormancy - the seasonal halt to visible growth in plants or activity in animals, usually for the winter season.
Ecosystem - an ecological system that includes a community of interacting living organisms along with the environment they live in.
Fatty acids - organic (containing carbon and hydrogen) chemical acids that occur naturally in waxes, fats and essential oils; a component of some low toxicity pesticides.
Formulation - a mixture of active ingredient(s) with carriers, spreaders or other materials, to improve the storage, mixing and / or application properties of a product.
Fungi - a group of often microscopic organisms lacking chlorophyll (green colouring); they grow from microscopic spores. Many fungi cause plant diseases, such as rots, rusts, mildews and blights; some species of fungi attack wood or cause decay in buildings and others cause diseases in insects. (Singular: fungus)
Fungicide - a pesticide used to control fungi that cause plant diseases.
Geotextiles - synthetic fabric for use in landscapes as a soil covering to smother weeds or prevent them from germinating.
Grub - the larval stage of some beetles.
Herbicide - a pesticide used to kill plants and control vegetation.
Honeydew - sticky liquid excreted by aphids as they feed on plants.
Host - with respect to pests, hosts are the living organisms that a pest or parasite depends upon for survival.
Insects - an enormous group of organisms with hard exterior skeletons; the adults have a body divided into three segments (head, thorax and abdomen), with 3 pairs of legs and 1-2 pairs of wings (if present) attached to the thorax.
Insecticide - a pesticide used to kill or repel insects.
Integrated pest management (IPM) - a decision making process for managing pest populations that uses a combination of techniques; it includes preventing pest problems, identification, monitoring, use of injury thresholds for decisions, a combination of controls (cultural, physical, mechanical, biological, chemical, etc.) and an evaluation step.
Larva - the immature, second life stage of an insect; a larva hatches from an egg. Most are wormlike, such as caterpillars, maggots and grubs. Many pest insects cause the most damage in the larval stage, particularly those that eat plants. (Plural: larvae).
Maggot - the larval stage of flies and midges (Order Diptera). Maggots are legless.
Microbial insecticide - a biological pesticide that contains microorganisms, such as bacteria, viruses or fungi, that attack insects.
Mites - minute animals having eight legs in the adult stage. There are harmful and beneficial species, closely related to spiders.
Miticide - a pesticide used to kill or repel mites.
Molluscs - a group of soft-bodied animals, most of which live in water and have shells, such as clams, oysters and mussels; some, like snails and slugs live on land; slugs are molluscs with no shell.
Molluscicide - a pesticide used to control snails and slugs (molluscs) pests.
Nematodes - a group of elongated, cylindrical worms, also called thread-worms or eel-worms. Some species attack roots or leaves of plants, others are parasites on animals or insects.
Non-selective pesticide - a product that kills or controls a wide range of organisms or related organisms; e.g., a non-selective herbicide is one that would kill many types of plants.
Parasite - an organism that lives in or on the body of another organism and obtains nourishment from it.
Perennial - a plant that has a life-span of more than two years. The top may die back in winter or in drought, but the roots or rhizomes persist to resume growing in favourable conditions.
Persistent pesticide - a pesticide that takes along time to degrade into simple compounds after being released into the environment; particularly those applied to soil that last more that one growing season (see Residual pesticide).
Pests - living organisms, such as insects, weeds, fungi, rodents, and others, that cause damage, irritation or are otherwise troublesome or harmful.
Pesticide - any substance or material, other than a device, that is sold or used to destroy, repel or manage a pest.
Phenology - the relationship between the climate and biological events, such as flowering or leafing out in plants.
Pheromone - a chemical compound given off by an insect to communicate with other insects of the same species (see also: Semiochemicals).
Phytotoxic - damaging or injurious to plants, often by destroying the protective surface on plant leaves.
Post-emergence - stage in a plant life-cycle after seedlings emerge from the soil surface.
Pre-emergence - stage in a plant life-cycle before seedlings emerge from the soil surface.
Predator - a living organism that preys upon another animal. Many birds are predators of insects; many species of insects and mites prey upon other insects.
Pupa - the stage between the larva stage and the adult in insects that undergo complete metamorphosis; a non-feeding and usually an inactive stage. (Plural: pupae).
Quantitative measurement - provides information in terms of numbers, proportions or other quantities.
Random sampling - collecting samples based on chance, rather than on making conscious choices for each sample; ensures that the samples collected are likely to show an accurate estimate of the situation.
Residual pesticides - products that continue to have a killing or repellent effect for a period of time (e.g., weeks or months) after application.
Selective pesticide - a material that destroys or repels a limited group of organisms; e.g., a selective herbicide may kill broadleaf weeds in a lawn, without injuring the grass plants.
Semiochemicals - "message chemicals" that are used by insects as signals; some are produced by plants and attract or repel insects, others are produced by insects to communicate alarm or attract mates.
Spot treatment - an application of a pesticide to localized or restricted areas (e.g., individual plants) as opposed to a broadcast treatment that involves a uniform application over an entire field or area.
Systemic pesticide - a product that is absorbed into the plant and moves through the plant tissues; e.g., a systemic insecticide can move throughout a plant to kill sucking insects.
Thatch - in lawns, this is a layer of dead plant material at the roots of the grasses; a certain amount is beneficial in protecting roots from heat, cold and drought, whereas a thick layer smothers roots and blocks fertilizer and water from reaching the soil.
Toxic - able to poison a living organism; poisonous.
Toxicity - the degree to which substance is poisonous or injurious to a plant or animal. Toxicity is one consideration in assessing the hazard in handling a particular pesticide.
Virus - a protein body capable of infecting and multiplying like living organisms within a host plant or animal; usually causing disease.
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