Which of the following is NOT a method by which pesticides kill pests?

Preventing reproduction is a method used in pest management, particularly through the use of specific insect growth regulators or sterilants, but it is not a direct method by which typical pesticides kill pests in the immediate sense. Most pesticides function to eliminate pests through more immediate physiological disruptions, such as inhibiting growth, disrupting nervous system function, or blocking respiration.

Inhibiting growth involves interfering with the development of the pest, which can lead to death but may not occur immediately. Disrupting nervous system function affects the pest’s ability to move and feed effectively, leading to a quicker demise. Blocking respiration directly impacts a pest’s ability to process oxygen, resulting in death. All of these methods have a more immediate lethal impact on pests compared to preventing reproduction, which is a longer-term control strategy. Thus, it is accurate to identify preventing reproduction as the method not directly responsible for the immediate killing of pests.