WSU Pest Management Complete Study Guide

Comprehensive flashcards covering vertebrate pests, rodents, wood-destroying organisms, cockroaches, and medically important arthropods for WSU Pest Management study.

Vertebrate

An animal that has a backbone, such as amphibians, birds, fish, mammals, and reptiles.

"Take"

To harm, kill, trap, capture, or collect an animal at any time of year, provided other laws are not broken.

Migratory Bird Treaty Act (1918)

A federal law that protects native nesting birds, their eggs, nests, and feathers, but excludes pigeons, house sparrows, starlings, and Eurasian collared-doves.

Commensal

Organisms, such as certain rodents, that live with or near humans and depend on them for food, water, and shelter.

Vibrissae

The whiskers of a rodent that serve as sensory organs for touch, helping them navigate in low vision conditions.

House Mouse ($Mus\;musculus$)

The most common commensal rodent in WA; it is small and slender, weighs up to $1\,oz$, and can fit through a $1/4$ inch gap.

Roof Rat ($Rattus\;rattus$)

A slender rodent with a tail equal to or longer than its body; it is a known carrier of the plague and prefers nesting in trees or attics.

Norway Rat ($Rattus\;norvegicus$)

A robust rodent with a blunt muzzle and a tail shorter than its body; it prefers burrowing and living on the ground.

Zinc phosphide

The only true acute active ingredient for rodenticides in Washington; it kills in a single feeding but can cause bait shyness.

Chronic Rodenticides (Anticoagulants)

Poisons that cause internal bleeding over time; they are divided into $1^{st}$-generation (multiple feedings) and $2^{nd}$-generation (single feeding) categories.

Vitamin K

The medical antidote for both $1^{st}$ and $2^{nd}$-generation anticoagulant rodenticides.

Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS)

A serious respiratory disease carried by the Deer Mouse, which is found throughout Washington except in the high Cascades.

Histoplasmosis

An airborne fungal lung disease found in soil enriched by bat or bird droppings; guano should be dampened before removal to prevent it.

Lyctids

True Powderpost Beetles that feed on the starch in hardwoods and leave behind a powdery frass similar to face powder.

Golden buprestid ($Buprestis\;aurulenta$)

An iridescent golden-green flatheaded borer that prefers Douglas-fir; larvae can take $2$ to $4$ years (and up to $20$ years) to mature.

Incipient Decay

The earliest stage of wood decay that cannot be detected by visual tools but can extend several inches beyond visible damage.

Brown Rot

A type of fungus that consumes only wood carbohydrates, causing the wood to weaken quickly and eventually turn brown and crumbly with cross-breaks.

White Rot

A decay fungus that uses all wood components ($up\;to\;97\%$ of wood weight), leaving the wood bleached and white in advanced stages.

German Cockroach ($Blattella\;germanica$)

The most common cockroach in PNW apartments; the female carries the ootheca until $1$ day before hatching, and it multiplies the fastest of all WA species.

Ootheca

The leathery egg case produced by female cockroaches.

Drugstore Beetle ($Stegobium\;paniceum$)

The most frequent stored-product pest in western WA; it has a humped appearance and can burrow through wood to reach food.

Indianmeal Moth ($Plodia\;interpunctella$)

The most frequently reported flour moth; larvae spin dense silken webbing on infested grain as they crawl.

Psocids

Also known as Book Lice; tiny, wingless insects that feed on mold and can damage book bindings in damp areas.

Grocer's Itch

A skin irritation caused by prolonged contact with large numbers of mites found in stored foods.

Keratin

The protein found in hair, hide, and feathers that clothes moths and carpet beetles are able to digest.

Black Carpet Beetle

A solid black beetle with larvae that are yellowish or golden-brown and have a tuft of long brown hairs at the rear.

Clover Mites

Small, pinhead-sized pests with extremely long front legs; they invade homes seeking warmth and leave stains when crushed.

Boxelder Bug

A true bug common in eastern WA that congregates on female boxelder trees and may invade homes in large numbers on warm fall days.

Asian Multicolored Lady Beetle ($Harmonia\;axyridis$)

An introduced species that invades homes in clusters during the fall; insecticides are not recommended because carcasses attract carpet beetles.

Moth Flies

Also called Drain Flies; minute, hairy-winged insects that breed in organic material found in sink and bathtub drains.

Phorid Flies

Small humpbacked flies with black eyes that breed in wet decaying organic matter; they are not attracted to UV light traps.

Western Yellowjacket ($Paravespula\;pensylvanica$)

The most common pest yellowjacket in WA; they form annual colonies that can reach up to $4,000$ workers by late summer.

Black Widow Spider ($Latrodectus\;hesperus$)

The only medically significant spider found throughout WA; the female has a jet-black body with a red hourglass on the underside and produces a nerve toxin.

Hobo Spider ($Tegenaria\;agrestis$)

A member of the funnel-web family and likely the most common house spider in western WA; it has long, hairy legs and is a swift runner.

Cantharidin

The blister-causing venom exuded defensively by blister beetles from their exoskeleton joints.

Myiasis

The invasion of living animal tissue by fly maggots, often occurring in open wounds or sores.

Pediculosis

The medical term for a louse infestation.

Rocky Mountain Wood Tick ($Dermacentor\;andersoni$)

The primary tick species confirmed as a transmitting agent for Rocky Mountain spotted fever in Washington.

Ixovotoxin

The toxin injected by a rapidly feeding female tick that can lead to tick paralysis.

Brown Dog Tick ($Rhipicephalus\;sanguineus$)

A tick species that lives primarily in kennels and houses; it cannot tolerate eastern WA winters and must stay indoors to survive.