Public Perceptions of Pest Problems
| Autor: | Philip G. Koehler, Roberto M. Pereira, R. W. Baldwin, F. M. Oi |
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| Rok vydání: | 2008 |
| Předmět: | |
| Zdroj: | American Entomologist. 54:73-79 |
| ISSN: | 2155-9902 1046-2821 |
| DOI: | 10.1093/ae/54.2.73 |
| Popis: | American Entomologist • Volume 54, Number 2 Historically, insects have been an influential part of human culture. Insect influence can be found in our language, art, history, philosophy, and religion (Hogue 1987; Capinera 1993, 1995; Berenbaum 2001; Cherry 2002; Rutledge 2003). Even though insects are a cultural influence, many people observe them with aversion, fear, and loathing (Kellert 1993). Surveys about insects and their control have been used by urban entomologists to gauge public opinion for more than a quarter of a century. Frankie and Levenson (1978) compared how city and rural residents of Texas reacted to insects. Attitudes toward and knowledge of cockroaches (Wood et al. 1981) and attitudes about the aesthetic injury caused by cockroaches (Zungoli and Robinson 1984) were surveyed in public housing in Virginia and Maryland. Levenson and Frankie (1983) compared attitudes about pests and pesticides among different socioeconomic groups from Texas, California, and New Jersey. Studies on public attitudes toward arthropods in and outside the home have been conducted in Arizona by Byrne et al. (1984), in Minnesota by Hahn and Ascerno (1991), and in Kentucky by Potter and Bessin (1998). Bennett et al. (1983) used a survey to determine patterns of pesticide use in homes in Indiana. Kellert (1993) surveyed people of Connecticut about their basic values regarding invertebrates and their conservation. The state of Florida, with all of its pest pressures, has only been addressed in a few questions by the Agriculture Institute of Florida annual survey (AIF 1999). Although many of these studies have addressed the public’s attitude toward insect pests, few have focused on behavioral response toward the insects. Our objectives in this study were to consider the importance of categories of urban pests, determine thresholds where participants exhibit behavioral changes to take action against a pest, and evaluate the likelihood that people would consider using some components of integrated pest management. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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