- (Focus Area) Pest Management
- Author: Michael Hsu
![Red leaf blotch (RLB) blotches that are large, yellow-orange and reddish-brown in their center](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/107462small.jpg)
Detection of fungus causing red leaf blotch spurs call for grower vigilance
Symptoms of red leaf blotch (RLB), a plant disease caused by the fungus Polystigma amygdalinum, have been observed for the first time in California across the Northern San Joaquin Valley.
Molecular DNA testing by the laboratory of Florent Trouillas, University of California Cooperative Extension fruit and nut crop pathology specialist, has confirmed the detection of P. amygdalinum. Formal pest confirmation by the California Department of Food and Agriculture is pending.
The disease, named for the...
/h3>- Author: Whitney Brim-DeForest
- Author: Luis Espino
- Author: Roberta Firoved
- Editor: Taiyu Guan
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At our last meeting, we had some questions about the approved uses of pendimethalin in California rice. There are several products labeled for use on rice with pendimethalin as the active ingredient. As of June 2024, pendimethalin registered products (on rice) include Prowl H2O, Prowl 3.3, Harbinger, Satellite Hydrocap, Stealth, Helena Pendimethalin, Pavilion H2O, Pavilion 3.3, and a few others. Please make sure to always check the product label, as not all pendimethalin products allow use for the below-listed timings. Furthermore, labels are updated regularly, so it should not be assumed that the same use pattern applies from season to season. For the most currently-registered products, refer to the California Department of Pesticide...
- Author: JD Trebec
When I first bought my home in central Woodland six years ago, there wasn't much in the yard to interest dragons: a mature orange tree that produced amazingly delicious navel oranges in the winter, a human-planted valley oak on the street out front, and squirrel-planted valley oak too close to my neighbor's fence line that looks ready to wallop my workshop. The rest of my small yard was Bermuda grass that burped up a fluffy clouds of invasive oxalis in the early spring and then reverted back to tired looking grass when the summer heat arrived. Nothing of interest, really, for a dragon. They aren't that interested in acorns or sorrel salad, and thankfully, they don't care for amazingly delicious oranges either because, of course, dragons...
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's the Fourth of July and what better time to post images of the aptly name "soldier beetles" than today.
These insects (family Cantharidae) resemble the uniforms of the British soldiers of the American Revolution, which is apparently how their name originated. They're also called "leatherwings" in reference to their soft, leatherylike wing covers.
Like lady beetles, aka ladybugs, these soldier beetles make short work of aphids and other soft-bodied insects. We've seen them devour so many aphids on our plants that they should be awarded the Aphid Belt, similar to Joey Chestnut's famed Mustard Belt.
Indeed, soldier beetles are eating machines, just like...
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
247 years!
The seven faculty members honored at the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology's recent retirement luncheon amassed an amazing 247 years of service:
- UC Davis distinguished professor James Carey, 44 years, faculty member since 1980. He retired in June.
- UC Davis distinguished professor Richard Karban, 42 years, faculty member since 1982. He retired in June.
- UC Davis distinguished professor emerita Lynn Kimsey, 35 years, faculty member since 1989. She retired...