2007-01-02 20:03:24 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Botany
Nicotine is an insecticide....not so much an insecticide, as an insect turn-off. Tobaco plants are not usually eaten by insects, since it makes them sick or it kills them or taste like crap, and most insects recognize the tobaco plant for it.
However, since it turned out to be addictive to humans, humans clean vasts portions of earth to plant tobaco, humans care for the plant, help it grow in places it can't grow on it's own, humans take care of other competitor plants and we also take care of the few pests that do eat and attac it. we might pick it's leaves to smoke them, but by that time we have propagated the plant many-fold.
Think that organisms are not considered succesfull biologically if they live well, the're succesfull if they leave a lot of offspring and continue to exist.
If humans didn't smoke tobacco, it would be restricted to it's original rainforests where it would have to compete like any other plant. We are it's slaves, in a way. I'd say that's quite an evolutionary achievement.
2007-01-03 05:27:06 · answer #1 · answered by carlospvog 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Nicotine sulafate is a contact poison derived from tobacco and is one of the most toxic botanical insecticides. It causes severe disruption and failure of the human nervous system, is easily absorbed through the eyes, skin, and mucous membranes, and is extremely fast-acting. Nicotine Sulfate should only be used as a last resort. Best results have been reported with diluted mixtures. It biodegrades rapidly with little residual effect.
2007-01-03 05:36:45 · answer #2 · answered by ivorytowerboy 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't really think it would help tobacco to be addictive, would it? I mean, in the space before it starts getting farmed, the tobacco would just get picked more and more...
I reckon it's just a coincidence. Like, some chemicals are addictive to humans, and one of them turned up in tobacco... but those two things weren't related.
2007-01-03 04:19:39 · answer #3 · answered by Cedar 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
There really isn't any to speak of. Nicotine, like many other addictive substances, stimulates the reward centre of the brain. In reality, it is tricking the brain into thinking that you've done something that is necessary for survival (such as eating, or having sex).
2007-01-03 04:11:04 · answer #4 · answered by beenthere 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋