- (Public Value) UCANR: Promoting healthy people and communities
- Author: Lauren Fordyce
![A freshly made bed with white sheets and striped pillows.](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/UCIPMurbanpests/blogfiles/107483small.jpg)
As vacation season begins, people will be traveling much more in the coming months. Whether you'll be staying at a hotel, hostel, motel, rental home, or summer camp, you should always be on the lookout for bed bugs. A bed bug check takes only a few minutes to complete and can give you and your family peace of mind when staying at new places.
Bed bugs are small insects, but big enough to see with the naked eye. They are oval shaped, wingless, and reddish brown. Bed bugs feed only on human blood, usually at nighttime while we are sleeping.
It's important to remember that bed bugs can occur anywhere and are not always an indication of poor hygiene or care. Bed bugs can be moved to new places on furniture, luggage,...
![A grey brown rat on the ground with its hands by its mouth feeding on something.](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/UCIPMurbanpests/blogfiles/107401small.jpg)
Rats can contaminate our food, damage structures, and spread diseases. To help residents and urban pest professionals safely and effectively manage rats, UC IPM has updated the Pest Notes: Rats publication. This revised fact sheet is authored by UC Cooperative Extension Human-Wildlife Conflicts advisor Dr. Niamh Quinn, a recognized expert in urban rat management. Updates include additional information on rat damage, specific sanitation tactics for both Norway and roof rats, tips for rodent-proofing your home, and new illustrations to clearly show correct placement of traps. Rules and regulations regarding rodenticide use in California are...
![Pest prevention tips for June.](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/UCIPMurbanpests/blogfiles/107312small.png)
Summer is here and so are the pests! Keep an eye out for the following pests and take these steps to prevent problems in the garden or landscape this June. To see more tips specific to your region, visit the Seasonal Landscape IPM Checklist on the UC IPM website.
- Check plants for leaf stippling or webbing from spider mites. Irrigate adequately, mist leaf undersides daily, reduce dustiness, or spray horticultural oil to...
- Author: Lauren Fordyce
![Black and white striped mosquito on human skin](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/UCIPMurbanpests/blogfiles/107153small.jpg)
Aedes mosquitoes can transmit some of the most debilitating and deadly mosquito-borne pathogens to humans, such as Zika virus, dengue virus, chikungunya virus, and yellow fever virus. One Aedes species is also capable of transmitting heartworm to dogs. These invasive mosquitoes are now present in many regions of California, from Shasta County to San Diego County. View a map of Aedes distribution by county.
The yellow fever mosquito (Aedes aegypti), the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus), and the Australian backyard mosquito (Aedes notoscriptus) are unlike...
- Author: Lauren Fordyce
![A pink flower in a green garden with small yellow and black striped flies flying around it.](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/UCIPMurbanpests/blogfiles/106712small.jpg)
There are many types of “good bugs” commonly found in the garden or landscape. In integrated pest management (IPM) we refer to “good bugs” as “natural enemies” or “beneficial organisms”. Natural enemies can include insects, but also mites, pathogens, and vertebrates like birds and lizards. They can kill or reduce pest populations by feeding directly on the pest, parasitizing the pest, or infecting the pest with a pathogen, reducing the need for pesticides.
Keep an eye out for the common natural enemies listed below and learn to recognize their egg and immature stages too!