‘Pesticide’ is an umbrella term for any substance which is designed to control a pest or disease. Types of pesticides are: herbicides (designed to kill plants), insecticides (kill insects), fungicides (kill fungi), rodenticides (kill rodents), molluscicides (kill mollusks) and nematicides (kill nematodes), but also include synthetic plant growth regulators (modify plant development so they can grow out of season, for example), defoliants (accelerate leaf fall) and desiccants (leaf is dried out but remains on plant).
For more general information about pesticides, go to our introduction to pesticides page.