Pest Insects

Abstract

The relation of insects to health is usually considered from the viewpoint of their role as carriers of disease agents. From this concept has come the phrase, ‘insects of public health importance’. However, if it is considered that health is something more than the mere absence of disease, that it includes the general mental and physical well-being of individuals and communities, it is obvious that pestiferous insects, other than disease vectors, are actually ‘insects of public health importance’. The effects of vector-borne disease on the health and economy of an area are known and recognized. The effects of pest insects on these elements have not been as carefully analyzed, although health authorities have been aware of them, in varying degrees, for some time. In many regions pest insects contribute substantially to lowered vitality among the inhabitants, and to inadequate development of natural resources and industry. For this reason it is appropriate to recognize, in a discussion of the use of DDT in human medicine, the part this insecticide has played and can assume in the control of pestiferous arthropods. The control of many species of insects and arachnid pests of man has already been discussed in relation to their role as disease vectors, or are considered in Chapter VIII (Knipling) in connection with their importance in veterinary medicine, and these will not be considered again here.