- Author: Andrew Mason Sutherland
It's that time of year again: termite swarm season! Western subterranean termites, Reticulitermes hesperus (species complex), produce reproductive swarms during calm sunny periods immediately following the first autumn rains. This is especially pronounced in the San Francisco Bay Area and parts of the Sacramento Valley, where mature termite colonies across a broad region may swarm simultaneously en masse, filling the air with termites fluttering their gossamer wings and filling social media discussions with wonder, horror, confusion, and dread.
Western subterranean termites may also swarm in the
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
- Posted by: Elaine Lander
Bed bugs can hitch rides on secondhand furniture, luggage, backpacks and other personal items to invade homes and attack people. While we rest and sleep on sofas and beds, the insects come out to feed. They want to suck our blood. A new web-based, interactive training course shows how to prevent and detect bed bug infestations.
“The training helps tenants recognize, restrict and report bed bugs and helps landlords comply with California state regulations on bed bugs,” said Andrew Sutherland, University of California Cooperative Extension integrated pest management advisor for the Bay...
- Author: Andrew Mason Sutherland
- Posted by: Elaine Lander
Most pest management professionals have served clients who swore they were being bitten by unseen pests. Perhaps the usual suspects (bed bugs, fleas, and mosquitoes) were ruled out by thorough inspection and monitoring devices. But what about mites? There are several species of mites known to bite humans within homes and other structures, many times causing significant physical symptoms and psychological distress. Clients can easily fall prey to misinformation online when learning about these tiny pests, however, so be prepared to educate them and help them solve their problem.
In all cases, biting mites found indoors are blood-sucking nest parasites of other animals living...
Cockroaches, or roaches, are probably some of the least welcome insects people encounter in their homes, kitchens, offices, restaurants, or landscapes. Indoor cockroaches can create significant public health problems by contaminating food and producing allergens.
To help manage both indoor and outdoor cockroaches, UC Cooperative Extension IPM Advisor Andrew Sutherland and UC Riverside entomologists Dong-Hwan Choe and Michael Rust tackle the challenge of cockroach management in the newly revised Pest Notes: Cockroaches.
What's new in this version?
Since it's critical to first identify...
/h2>- Author: Andrew Sutherland
- Posted by: Elaine Lander
Two species of Blatta cockroaches can be common peridomestic pests in California, including the familiar oriental cockroach (B. orientalis) and a relative newcomer, the Turkestan cockroach (B. lateralis, Figure 1). Adults of both species are large (usually one inch or more in length) and conspicuous insects that harbor and breed outdoors within moist crevices around structures, such as subsurface utility ports, voids associated with concrete expansion joints, and soil cracks formed at junctions of landscape and hardscape elements (Figure 2).
From these harborage sites, cockroaches venture out at night to feed on a wide variety of...