- Author: Karey Windbiel-Rojas
This article was written for the UC IPM Retail Nursery and Garden Center News, a publication directed at retail nursery store employees. With the recent confirmed human West Nile virus deaths in California, it's important to understand how mosquitoes reproduce and what you can do to prevent them around your home or other areas.
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You've likely heard about ways to get rid of mosquito breeding sites around your home and landscape, as well as how to protect yourself from being bitten. But what should you do if you own or work at a...
Spotting a small moth fluttering around your closet then discovering damaged fabric or other items can be shocking. Upon further inspection, you may even see the silken webs spun by the larvae, or the droppings they leave behind.
Clothes moth larvae attack wool clothing, carpets, rugs, upholstered furniture, furs, and much more. They will even feed on synthetic or cotton blends of fabric if they also contain wool.
Sometimes people mistake clothes moths for pantry pests (food and grain-infesting moths). Clothes moths are small, about ¼ long, and only flutter about the area they have infested, typically around around bedrooms and where...
Have you noticed small, rounded beetles that resemble miniature lady beetles crawling your home lately? If so, you may have carpet beetles.
Carpet beetles can be pests in homes, museums, and warehouses, where they feed on food such as fabric, wool carpet and rugs, stored food, and natural animal products including furs, feathers, bone, silk, and preserved specimens.
Adult carpet beetles don't feed on fabrics but instead feed on the pollen and nectar of outdoor plants. However, once they find their way indoors-- which could be through an open door or on cut flowers brought inside-- adults lay their eggs on a food source and within two weeks, their eggs hatch and begin to feed. Larvae feed in dark, secluded places and as...