Vector Biology, Surveillance, and Control (Exam 3 Review)

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering vector surveillance techniques, chemical and biological control, insecticide resistance mechanisms, vaccine types, sialome biology, and genetic modification strategies (Modules 9-12).

Passive Surveillance

An inexpensive surveillance strategy capable of covering large areas to assess trends and identify risk factors, but subject to under-reporting and incomplete data.

Active Surveillance

A surveillance strategy that produces more accurate, complete, early, and timely data to validate passive systems and loosely track new invasions, but is resource-intensive and requires well-developed methodology.

Light Traps

Surveillance sampling tools useful for capturing flying insects such as mosquitoes, sand flies, and horse flies.

Dippers

Sampling tools used specifically for collecting mosquito larvae and pupae.

Sticky Traps

Glue-based traps used in pest control to catch and monitor insects.

Ovitrap

A specialized mosquito trap designed for mosquitoes to lay their eggs.

Tick Drag

A surveillance method involving dragging a large square of cloth (white or pale in color) over the ground to catch questing ticks.

Tick Walk

A surveillance technique where a surveyor wears white clothing, walks along a standardized path, and removes and identifies all ticks found on the clothing.

Biological Control

The use of living organisms to suppress pest populations.

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt)

A biological control agent that produces toxins that target insect larvae when eaten, acting as a larvicide affecting only mosquitoes, black flies, and midges.

Pesticide

A substance used to protect against pests.

Acaricides

Pesticides formulated specifically to target mites and ticks.

Algicides

Pesticides formulated specifically to target algae.

Herbicides

Pesticides formulated specifically to target plants.

Nematicides

Pesticides formulated specifically to target nematodes.

Molluscicides

Pesticides formulated specifically to target slugs and snails.

Piscicides

Pesticides formulated specifically to target fish.

Avicides

Pesticides formulated specifically to target birds.

Rodenticides

Pesticides formulated specifically to target rodents.

Bactericides

Pesticides formulated specifically to target bacteria.

Fungicides

Pesticides formulated specifically to target fungi.

Insecticides

Pesticides formulated specifically to target insects.

Organic Insecticide

Insecticides that have carbon as the chemical basis of their structure.

Inorganic Insecticide

Crystalline, environmentally stable insecticides that do not have carbon as their basis.

Natural Insecticide

Insecticides derived from plant-based sources.

DDT

A synthetic, organic contact poison widely used after WWII to combat malaria and typhus; banned domestically in 1972 after Silent Springs displayed its environmental harm, but still permitted for indoor use in African countries where malaria remains a major health problem.

LD50 (Median Lethal Dose)

The amount of a substance required to kill $50\%$ of a test population.

Insecticide Resistance

The selection of a heritable characteristic in an insect population that results in the repeated failure of an insecticide product to be effective.

Behavioral Resistance

A resistance mechanism in which resistant insects detect or recognize a danger and avoid the toxin.

Reduced Penetration Resistance

A resistance mechanism in which resistant insects absorb the applied toxin more slowly.

Metabolic Resistance

A resistance mechanism in which resistant insects detoxify or destroy the toxin faster.

Altered Target-Site Resistance

A resistance mechanism in which the physical site where the toxin normally binds within the insect becomes modified.

Cross-Resistance

The condition where an insect population exhibits resistance to multiple insecticides that share the same mode of action.

Multiple Resistance

The condition where several different resistance mechanisms are present simultaneously in an insect population.

Rotation

An insecticide resistance management strategy based on alternating or rotating the use of different insecticides over time.

Fine-Scale Mosaics

An insecticide resistance management strategy involving spatially separated applications of different compounds against the same insect.

Mixtures

An insecticide resistance management strategy that uses a combined formulation of two insecticide compounds simultaneously.

Antigen

A toxic substance that induces an immune response in the body.

Antibody

A protein produced by the immune system to attack antigens.

Antibody Titer

A laboratory measurement of the level of antibodies present in a blood sample.

Adjuvent

An ingredient used in some vaccines that helps create a stronger immune response.

Transmission Blocking Vaccines (TBV)

Vaccines administered to a host to produce antibodies, which subsequently result in the loss of vector competence in the feeding insect.

Live-Attenuated Vaccines

Classic vaccines that use a weakened form of the disease-causing pathogen.

Inactivated Vaccine

Vaccines made from pathogens killed through heat, radiation, or chemical processes.

Subunit, Recombinant, Polysaccharide, and Conjugate Vaccines

Vaccines that only contain antigenic parts of the pathogen without any live components.

mRNA Vaccines

Vaccines that direct cells to make proteins to trigger an immune response.

Viral Vector Vaccines

Vaccines that utilize a safe virus to insert pathogen genes into the body.

Toxoid Vaccines

Vaccines based on the specific toxin produced by the disease-causing pathogen.

Sialome

The total complement of mRNA transcripts and proteins expressed in the salivary glands of a blood-sucking or vector organism that facilitates infection by the arthropod's saliva.

Population Suppression

A genetic control strategy where insects are engineered to ensure that no viable offspring are produced when they mate with wild individuals.

Population Replacement

A genetic control strategy aimed at permanently replacing wild populations of insects with genetically modified varieties that are less apt to transmit diseases.

Self-Sustaining

A genetic control method where wild insect populations are replaced with new populations carrying modified behavior, physiology, or other properties to reduce impact.

Self-Limiting

A genetic control strategy designed to suppress local insect populations by harnessing the natural mating system to introduce genetic traits that ultimately lead to their demise.

Sterile Insect Technique (SIT)

An environmentally friendly biological control method relying on mass-rearing, sterilization, and systematic area-wide release of sterile males without depending on toxic chemicals.

Insect Growth Regulators (IGRs)

Specialized insecticides that act as biochemical "birth control" by mimicking or blocking critical insect hormones rather than attacking the nervous system.

Wolbachia

A naturally occurring intracellular bacterium found in about $60\%$ of insect species (excluding primary vector Aedes aegypti) that controls vectors via pathogen blocking and cytoplasmic incompatibility.

Gene Drive Technology

A genetic technique that bypasses standard rules of inheritance to spread a specific trait rapidly through an entire wild population over multiple generations.