From the UC Blogosphere...

The Bee and the Ginkgo Tree

I've always liked the ginkgo tree, despite the fact that honey bees don't like it. It's a non-flowering plant so there's no...

A honey bee lands on a ginkgo tree. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A honey bee lands on a ginkgo tree. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A beautiful ginkgo specimen at the corner of West Street and Buck Avenue, Vacaville. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A beautiful ginkgo specimen at the corner of West Street and Buck Avenue, Vacaville. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Rats!

Rats! How many times have you encountered a "honey bee" on the Internet, in a book, magazine, newspaper or other...

A drone fly, Eristalis tenax, on a Shasta daisy at the Luther Burbank Home and Gardens.. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A drone fly, Eristalis tenax, on a Shasta daisy at the Luther Burbank Home and Gardens. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A drone fly,Eristalis tenax, on yarrow at the Luther Burbank Home and Gardens. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A drone fly, Eristalis tenax, on yarrow at the Luther Burbank Home and Gardens. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Close-up of a drone fly, Eristalis tenax. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Close-up of a drone fly, Eristalis tenax. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Daily Life For Master Gardeners

 Ghosts In The House By Andrea Peck   Indoor plants are like garden ghosts, shadows that take second fiddle to...

Time for Celebration and Nostalgia

It was a time for celebration and a time for nostalgia. The UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program, an innovative program that...

""Rock artist" Donna Billick with Terry Nathan, UC Davis professor of atmospheric science. He teaches photography in the UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

"Rock artist" Donna Billick with Terry Nathan, UC Davis professor of atmospheric science. He teaches photography in the UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Entomology 01 student Justine Abbott, majoring in biological sciences, created this work on the Asian giant hornet, Vespa manderinia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Entomology 01 student Justine Abbott, majoring in biological sciences, created this work on the Asian giant hornet, Vespa manderinia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Entomology 01 student Eric Smith, majoring in biochemistry, titled his work on the walnut husk fly, "Look Into My Eyes." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Entomology 01 student Eric Smith, majoring in biochemistry, titled his work on the walnut husk fly, "Look Into My Eyes." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Sesame seed-size insect is victimizing trees in Southern California

The polyphagous shot hole borer is taking up residence in California trees from San Diego to Santa Monica and as far east as Riverside County, drilling circular tunnels and spreading fungal spores that kill trees from the inside out, reported Amina Kahn in the Los Angeles Times Science Blog.

Akif Eskalen, UC Cooperative Extension plant pathology specialist at UC Riverside, wants to contain this invasive bug before it spreads throughout Southern California.

"If we can't control them," Eskalen said, "they are going to wipe out all our trees."

Box elders, sycamores, American sweetgum, maple and coast live oaks are susceptible to polyphagous shot hole borer attack. In urban and suburban areas, the dead and dying trees can pose fire and limb falling dangers. In the agricultural sector, avocado trees could face huge financial losses. In the fight against the pest, the California Avocado Commission has provided Eskalen $800,000 to broaden his investigation into this mysterious species of ambrosia beetle. 

In March, Eskalen and his colleagues - UC Riverside entomologist Richard Stouthamer and Huntington Library curator of woody collections Tim Thibault - spent two weeks in Vietnam, where PSHB originates, searching forests and fields for natural enemies of the fungus spread by the pest. They collected a host of possible allies, whose DNA is now being analyzed in the lab.

"I am very hopeful that we are going to find some solutions to control this fungus," Eskalen said. "We have to."

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