Oedipous
...ogress in the area of pesticide development was slow. By the beginning of World War II there were only about thirty pesticides in use. A World of Pests q Pests are simply living things that happen to live where people don’t want them to. They are considered pests because they harm our health, eat our food, and destroy our property. q Some animal pests, such as rats and mice, eat food needed for people or other animals. Other pests are viruses or fungi that damage food being grown or stored. Some pests are weeds that compete with the plants we value for sunlight, water, and minerals. q By far the most abundant group of pests are insects. Pests do a tremendous amount of damage. Experts estimate that up to a third of the food grown each year in the United States is eaten or destroyed by insects, rodents, bacteria, viruses, and weeds. Classification and Control q In World War II it was not only human enemies that the soldiers on both sides had to worry about. They also faced a deadly threat from the diseases common in the tropical climates where many of the battles took place. A breakthrough came when it was discovered that DDT would kill the offending insects. q In many languages, the word for pesticide translates as “medicines for food.” In a more common definition, the word simply means things that will kill pests. q There are many different kinds of pesticides named for the type of pest they are designed to kill. There are insecticides to control insects, fungicides to control fungi, he...