- Author: Akif Eskalen
[From the August 2015 issue of the UC IPM Green Bulletin]
Declining coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia) trees have recently been found throughout urban landscapes in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, Santa Barbara, Ventura and Monterey counties. A fungus associated with a specific beetle is causing the decline by spreading what is known as “foamy bark canker disease” (Figures 1 and 2).
The fungal species, Geosmithia pallida, was recovered from symptomatic plant tissues in association with the western oak bark beetle...
/span>Drought is decreasing but not defeating the pathogen that causes sudden oak death, according to a citizen science-assisted survey conducted this spring by a UC Agriculture and Natural Resources forest pathologist.
Results of the 2015 Sudden Oak Death Blitz survey reveal coastal mountain infestations in areas such as Big Sur (19% infection), the Santa Cruz Mountains (13% infection), and western Sonoma County (12% infection) remain high despite an overall decline in infection rates from 4.4% to 3.7% across California's 15 infested counties.
Sudden oak death (SOD) symptoms have been seen in Alameda, Contra Costa, Humboldt, Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Monterey, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano,...
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- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Will all the pollinators please stand up!
Or do a fly-by like the Blue Angels or a crawl-by like babies competing in a diaper derby.
Bees--there are more than 4000 of them in North America--are the main pollinators, but don't overlook butterflies, beetles, birds, bats and moths.
And flies.
Flies?
Yes, flies.
Hover flies, aka flower flies or syrphid flies, belong to the family Syrphidae. Scientists estimate that worldwide, there are about 6000 described species in 200 genera. As their name implies, hover flies "hover," sort of like a helicopter preparing to...
The mere mention of head lice might make feel you itchy and start to scratch your head. However, now that children are back in school, it's a good time to talk about these tiny pests.
Although head lice can infest anyone, children are the most susceptible since they play together closely and share items that come into contact with the head like hats, headphones and combs. Head lice are not known to transmit infectious diseases and are considered more of a nuisance than a health risk. In many school districts, children with head lice are generally not allowed to attend school as long as nits are found in their hair.
An adult head louse is about the size of a sesame seed and ranges in color from tan to gray. While lice can...