- Author: Karey Windbiel-Rojas
Subject: End of the Oriental Fruit Fly Quarantine – Sacramento and Yolo...
- Author: Karey Windbiel-Rojas
As written in my blog post from 2 days ago, I found carpenter ants in my house recently and decided to call a pest control company to help manage them.
Yesterday, the field representative from the pest control company (both of whom will remain unnamed) showed up as scheduled, the day after I submitted a service request. Prompt service, which I appreciated! I had collected some of the perpetrators for him, and had both dead and live specimens on hand for his expert ID and advice.
The job of the licensed structural field rep is to identify the pest. I already knew what I had, having some prior knowledge of ants and having used the UC IPM
- Author: Karey Windbiel-Rojas
It's cold out right now in Sacramento so we don't typically see many ants roaming around outdoors much. Indoors where it's warmer, can be a different story however.
About a year ago, I started seeing a few random large ants wandering around my house. Because it wasn't a trail of ants that I could see going to any particular food source, I wasn't too concerned. Random ant? No big deal. Then they were gone with the cold weather.
As the weather warmed up, I noticed in one bedroom closet, some droppings that looked like a mixture of chewed stucco, various insect body parts, and some black bits of something. I wasn't seeing ants at this time, just this debris. What was causing it? Could it be carpenter ants?
Two...
- Author: Karey Windbiel-Rojas
As I sit in my hotel tonight and work from atop my bed, I thought it would be useful to share the practice I always use each and every time I stay in a hotel: checking for bed bugs.
Bed bugs can occur in any hotel whether it's a 5-star or 1-star hotel. I tend to stay in hotels rated somewhere in between these, but I always check for bed bugs before even putting my things away or sitting down.
It doesn't take long and you will be glad you did it. Please watch this short video and keep yourself safe from bringing home these very troublesome pests.
- Author: Karey Windbiel-Rojas
I enjoy sharing backyard citrus and produce as much as anyone. Unfortunately, as backyard citrus trees start to overflow with their bounty and we are of course in the giving and sharing spirit, I have to remind everyone who lives in certain parts of Sacramento County that the Oriental fruit fly quarantine is still in place.
I called the California Department of Food and Agriculture today to check on this, and they responded that no, the quarantine has not yet been lifted and may not be for several more months.
The Oriental fruit fly is an invasive insect pest that can cause...