IB1091035 Insects and the law
April 21, 2010, Pages 305-312
1. In business law, what do cases in which insects feature prominently usually involve?
a. investments in insect products (e.g, silk, wax) b. liability for injuries inflicted by insects
c. insect damage to commercial goods
d. insects in advertising
2. How does the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur apply to lawsuits involving insect bites and stings?
a. the insect responsible for the bite must be identified to prove liability or negligence
b. someone other than the victim must have witnessed the bite or sting occur
c. a medical doctor must certify that the bite or sting caused physical damage
d. no specific evidence other than the bite or sting is required for proving liability or negligence
3. True or false: “Banana spiders,” highly venomous spiders lurking in shipments of bananas, are just urban legends.
4. The presence of which of the following insects in an apartment might constitute a violation of an implied warranty of
habitability on the part of the landlord?
a. cluster flies
b. cockroaches
c. boxelder bugs
d. head lice
5. Which of the following is (are) an example of an entomological error made by a court?
a. Stuckey’s Carriage Inn v Phillips—business owners have to worry about patron fear of inseccts
b.Delamater v Foreman—bedbugs “coming in great numbers… may cause distress”
c. Ben Hur Holding Co v Rox 1933—the cricket is “…an indefatigable musician par excellence”
d. Tutton v AD Walter Ltd—the decision is a victory for all involved in the “agreeably dotty pursuit of keeping bees”
6. According to insurance laws, in what ways have insects caused motor vehicle accidents that resulted in liability for
injury or damage?
a. flying into eyes or mouth
b. dying on road surfaces and causing slippery conditions
c. biting or stinging a driver
d. all of the above
7. Mandatory termite inspections before a home sale in Florida
a. require inspectors to probe wood to determine damage b. must refer to existing documentation of past infestations
c. require inspectors to report all past treatments of a house for infestations d. all of the above e. none of the above
8. After being sued for $5.35 million for failing to control fire ants in a retirement community, leading to hospitalization
of a resident with hundreds of stings (Devers v Greystone), Terminix
a. developed new protocols for controlling fire ants in assisted care facilities and hospitals
b. instituted a mandatory training program for all of its pest control applicators to insure quality
c both b and c
d. changed its contracts to exclude liability for fire ants
9. Which of the following situations can be considered a public nuisance?
a. city park district planting flowers that attract pollinators such as bees and butterflies
b. power company damming a stream to create standing water in which mosquitoes breed
c. a private individual planting hackberry trees that attract hackberry jumping plant lice.
d. a private individual who does nothing to control a resident population of crab lice.
10. Like bees, which of the following would be considered ferae naturae?
a. tiger in a zoo
b. dairy cow
c. pet dog
d. bison on the prairie
11. What are reasons beekeepers can be sued by neighbors?
a. creating a nuisance
b. zoning ordinance violatio c. trespassing in pursuit
12. What are reasons beekeepers might sue their neighbors?
a. theft of swarm b. theft of honey
c. pesticide drift
d. a, b, c
13. According to New York City Health Code Section 161.01, beekeeping is
a. permitted with a license and regular inspection
b. restricted to buildings less than 20 stories high
c. allowed by building owners but not by renters
d. illegal under any circumstance because bees are “naturally inclined to do harm.”
d. a, b, and c
14. According to Anderson v State of Minnesota Dept. Natural Resources (2005),
a. bees killed by pesticides on a neighbor’s property are regarded as “trespassers”
b. state agency interpretation of pesticide labels prevail in disputes with private citizens
c. pesticide applicators have a common-law duty to protect bees when applying pesticides
d. beekeepers can collect damages only if pesticide contamination of honey can be proved
15. True or false: Collecting insects on federal land is legal
a. True
b. False
16. Why are apiaries inspected?
a. to control African bees
b. to guard against pesticide contamination of honey
c. to protect against American foulbrood
d. to prevent cruelty to bees
17. FIFRA is the Federal Insecticide Fungicide _____________ Act:
a.Registration
b. Regulation
c. Rodenticide
18. When was FIFRA enacted?
a. 1917
b. 1947
c. 1977
19. What federal agencies regulate pesticides?
a. EPA
b. FDA
c. USDA d. all of the above
d. Removal
d. 1997
20. Under the Food Quality Protection Act, safety levels for pesticide exposure for infants and children were redced to
what fraction of previous levels?
a. 50%
b. 33%
c. 25%
d. 10%
21. What items of information, other than name of the product, must be on a pesticide label?
a. ingredient statement b. manufacturer;s name and address c. reentry statement d. a and b
e. a-c
22. True or false: Pheromones, when used for insect control, can be considered pesticides.
23. Why was the California Department of Food and Agriculture sued this year for spraying pheromones to eradicate the
light brown apple moth?? The local populations was worried about the possible negative health effects of spraying the
pheromone over “sensitive” populations, despite the fact that what was being sprayed was not an insecticide (it was a
naturally occurring pheromone) and there is no evidence of health risks associated with spraying pheromones.
23. What was the goal of the insect-related lawsuit, filed by Greenpeace International, The International Federation of
Organic Agriculture Movements, the International Center for Technology Assessment, and several other parties against
the Environmental Protection Agency that was dismissed July 26, 2000 for lack of evidence?
a. banning DDT in Third World countries
b.banning importation of non-native biocontrol agents
c. banning genetically modified crops d. banning the release of genetically modified insects
24. Why were four major producers of transgenic corn sued by 22 organic farmers in 1999?
a. Drifting transgenic pollen might contaminate their crop
b. Transgenic pollen might fertilize their corn plants and create non-organic hybrids
c. Transgenic corn debris contaminates agricultural runoff and might flow to organic farms
d. Transgenic corn might create corn borers resistant to Bacillus thuringiensis, which is used by organic growers.
23. True or False: The Laboratory Animal Welfare Act (Public Law 89-544) applies equally to invertebrates and
vertebrates.