A plant or animal on or in which a pest lives is called what?

• A. Host
• B. Cultivar
• C. Weed
• D. Climate

Answer: (A)

Think of the host as the living home for the pest. The plant or animal on or in which a pest lives is called the host because it provides the habitat and often the food that the pest relies on. In turf care, you’d say the grass plant is the host when a pest, like a grub or a mites, lives in or on it.

The other terms don’t fit this idea. A cultivar is just a particular bred variety of plant, not about pest residency. A weed is a plant we don’t want, not specifically the place a pest lives. Climate refers to weather conditions, not to a living thing that harbors a pest.