Just a few more weeks of summer remain! As the weather begins to shift, you may need to adjust your landscaping practices to prevent and monitor for fall pests. The UC IPM Seasonal Landscape IPM Checklist is a monthly guide to help you avoid common pests of landscape plants.
Here are some general tips for the month of September to prevent pests and their damage in the garden and landscape. Visit the checklist online to see more pest management to-dos for your region.
- Monitor citrus plants for signs of pests such as Asian citrus psyllid or leafminers.
- Adjust irrigation to account for any change in weather and increased rainfall.
- Inspect apple, citrus and especially Prunus species (e.g., stone fruit) for bacterial blast, blight, and canker. Remove entire affected branches in the summer, making cuts several inches away in healthy wood.
- Check for aphids. Most established plants can tolerate aphid feeding. On small plants, knock aphids off with a strong stream of water or apply insecticidal oils and soaps to manage.
- Check for signs of powdery mildew on apple, crape myrtle, grape, rose, and stone fruits.
- Manage ants around landscapes and building foundations using insecticide baits and trunk barriers.
- Look for leaffooted bugs feeding on fruit and nuts such as almonds, pistachios, and pomegranates.
Don't see your county on the checklist or want to provide feedback? Let us know!
Nobody wants cockroaches in their home, especially since these pests can cause and worsen allergies in children, transmit diseases and bacteria, and contaminate foods.
If you find cockroaches in or around your home, do you reach for a do-it-yourself spray product? Well, you might not want to waste your money!
New research shows that some common consumer-grade insecticide sprays don't work to get rid of cockroach infestations. The study focused on products containing pyrethroids, which is a group of pesticides commonly found in many household insecticide products. Examples of pyrethroids include the active ingredients bifenthrin, cypermethrin, and permethrin.
In the study, both liquid and aerosol pyrethroid products killed less than 20% of German cockroaches on sprayed surfaces. Even when cockroaches were confined to the sprayed surfaces, most products took 8 to 24 hours to kill them, with some taking up to 5 days.
Research has also shown that frequent use of pyrethroid insecticides for cockroach management had caused the insects to develop resistance to these products.
So, what can you do to effectively control cockroaches?
Identifying the species present is important since some cockroaches live and breed indoors, while others live and breed outdoors. Knowing which cockroach species you have will allow you to focus control efforts on the correct location, using methods that are effective for managing that specific type of cockroach.
Pesticides alone will not solve a cockroach problem. Use pesticides indoors only if the cockroach population is reproducing and living in your home, not for the occasional intruder. Use insecticide bait products in combination with other non-chemical control methods, such as exclusion and sanitation.
Hiring a professional pest control service that takes an IPM approach can be helpful in reducing serious indoor cockroach infestations but can be also be expensive. Professionals have the tools, experience, and knowledge to better address serious pest issues. Infestations in multi-unit housing, such as apartment complexes, can be especially difficult to control and often requires a community-wide effort.
For more detailed management information, see the Pest Notes: Cockroaches.
[Adapted from an article published by the Entomological Society of America on August 14, 2024.]
/h2>
- Author: Lauren Fordyce
Are you noticing an abundance of cobwebs outside, on plants, fences, homes, or outdoor furniture?
While many people fear spiders or dislike their cobwebs, most spiders are beneficial to have around– even in the home! Spiders are predators of many insect pests and rarely cause harm to people. The only medically significant spiders in California are brown and black widows. While these spiders have the potential to cause harm, it is rare that they will bite, even in areas where they are very common. Like most spiders, they prefer to stay hidden and avoid people.
Some common web-spinning spiders you might encounter outdoors include:
- Funnel weavers: feed during the day and night near the ground in most types of vegetation, including low-growing plants and trees. Spin funnel-shaped webs, often with several-inch-wide, flat extension covering plants or soil.
- Sac spiders: spin silken tubes or sacs under bark, among leaves, and in low plants or on the ground, where they hide during the day or retreat after hunting. They are typically nocturnal, medium-sized, pale spiders with few markings.
- Garden spiders: feed on insects that fly, fall, or are blown into their web. Elaborate silken webs are spun in concentric circles.
- Dwarf spiders: prey on insects that fall, walk, or land in their web. They are diurnal (day active) spiders found in the plant canopy and among litter on the ground. Dwarf spiders produce sheetlike webs on the surface of plants or soil.
- Comb-footed spiders: feed on insects that walk or fly into their webs. They almost always are found hanging upside down by their claws in irregularly spun, sticky webs, waiting for prey. Generally they have a soft, round, bulbous abdomen and slender legs without spines.
Unwanted cobwebs can be swept, mopped, hosed, or vacuumed up. Insecticides should not usually be used against spiders outdoors and don't provide good control anyway.
For more information about spiders in and around the home, visit the Pest Notes: Spiders.
- Author: Sandipa Gautam
Upcoming Citrus Extension Outreach Meetings at LREC
August 20, 2024. Register here for AAIE Organized Citrus Roundtable for SJV growers: This is an opportunity for citrus pest control advisors to get together and talk about how they manage pests. The round table will discuss Ant Control, ACP, Thrips, Red Scale, Mealybug, Weed management, current regulations and pest management problems citrus pest control advisors have had. UCANR's Dr. Sandipa Gautam, Cooperative Extension Area Citrus IPM Advisor, David Haviland, Entomology and Pest Management Farm Advisor, Jorge Antonio Angeles, Weed Management Advisor, Dr. Bodil Cass, UCR Subtropical crops Specialist, and Chris Greer Assistant Ag Commissioner, Tulare County will be presenting at this meeting.
September 24, 2024: Register here for Citricola Scale Field Day: Citricola scale has been a problem in year 2024. This 2 hour event will focus on teaching PCAs on pest identification, monitoring, and best management practices manage citricola scale.
October 2, 2024: Register here for California red scale and its natural enemies workshop. A day dedicated to California red scale and its natural enemies is back! This hands-on workshop at Lindcove will teach PCAs how to recognize the various life stages of California red scale and their parasites with dedicated time to work with each life stage. With this knowledge PCAs can determine the level of parasitism of California red scale in their citrus orchards and make better decisions about scale control tactics. Seat is limited to 30 students.
October 9, 2024: Register here for Fall Citrus Meeting at Lindcove. Are you looking for one meeting where you can learn about various issues in citrus production? UC Researchers bring to you a Fall Citrus Meeting at Lindcove Research and Extension Center on October 9, 2024. This meeting will cover nutrient management and irrigation, insect pest, disease, weed management and regulatory pest and top issues and regulations followed by a group discussion to identify grower needs pertaining to various topics.
September 11, 2024: Register here for “Workshop on the Biology and Identification of Phytoseiid Predatory Mites in Agriculture” This workshop will teach students about the importance of predatory mites in agricultural crops and the basics of how to identify them to species level. Each student will have their own phase contrast microscope and access to a set of slide-mounted specimens to work through “The Key to Genera of Phytoseiidae Found on Crop Plants in California”. Learn from the experts – Dr. Beth Grafton-Cardwell will be leading the class with David Haviland. Seat is limited to 30 students. Full Agenda attached. This workshop will be held at Kearney REC, 9240 S. Riverbend Avenue, Exeter, CA.
Attached Files CRS Annoucement October 2 2024
Local Citrus Round Table Agenda AAIE
Workshop on the Biology and Identification of Phytoseiid Predatory Mites in Agriculture
Citricola Scale Field Day Announcement - September 24 2024
Fall Citrus Meeting at Lindcove
Photo: Wax Scale, Ceroplastes ceriferus
/span>- Author: Jeannette Warnert
Cockroaches, ants and flies are three common outdoor pests that will enter homes when they have the opportunity, said UC Cooperative Extension urban integrated pest management (IPM) advisor Andrew Sutherland.
Oriental cockroaches, usually black or dark brown, are found throughout the U.S. They live and breed in dark, damp outdoor locations. Reddish-brown Turkestan cockroaches, originally from central Asia, are now well established in California. They live outside eating decaying plant and animal matter, finding safe harbor in water meter, irrigation and electrical boxes, cracks and crevices. American cockroaches live in warm and humid underground structures, such as sewers and storm drains.
If your home isn't well-sealed, they will walk right in.
Sutherland recommends using IPM strategies to prevent cockroach infestations, starting with prevention. Reduce moisture around the home, especially within the first couple of yards of the perimeter. Remove as much food as possible from around the home.
“You never want to leave pet food outside. If you have a fruit tree, make sure the fruit is not accumulating in the yard,” he said.
Add door sweeps or door brushes to close the gap underneath doors. Garages should be sealed with a flexible threshold seal.
“Spraying cockroaches with pesticides will not fix the problem,” he said. “If you have exterior doors with a one-inch gap, it doesn't matter how many pesticides you apply to cockroaches, they are still going to come in through the door. If you want to treat cockroaches with pesticides, bait works best.”
Readily available gel and granular baits are very effective.
Argentine ants are native to South America, but they have been introduced all over the globe. The tiny black insect lives in large colonies, so their trails can resemble crowded superhighways. Researchers have discovered that they tend to enter homes two times of the year: When the first rain of the season floods their nests, and when it is hot and dry in the summer.
“Sometimes they will even move their entire brood into a protected area indoors, within a wall or cabinet void,” Sutherland said. “Argentine ants live and breed outside. If you're seeing them indoors, it's because they are foraging on a resource or they're temporarily moving their colony to avoid inhospitable conditions.”
The best control strategy is prevention. Irrigated landscape favors Argentine ants. A drought-tolerant or xeriscape landscape will be less attractive to them. Removing food sources is more difficult with ants. Sap-sucking insects like aphids, mealybugs, whiteflies and soft scale deposit a sweet, sticky residue that ants love.
“If you're able to control the sap-sucking insects, you'll control the ants. Likewise, if you control ants, you'll probably see a reduction in sap-sucking insects,” he said.
Sutherland suggests avoiding regular pesticide spray programs for pest control because of the ecological damage that results when runoff flows into storm drains, creeks and other waterways. As with cockroaches, baits can be very effective.
“Ants are social insects. If an ant consumes a bit of insecticidal bait, it's going to share it with its nestmates. With baits you can actually kill an entire ant colony, where with sprays, at best you're going to kill the ants that cross chemical,” Sutherland said.
Sometimes, you might have an “ant emergency,” a swarm of ants that suddenly appears inside.
“There are safe steps to take,” Sutherland said. “I keep a spray bottle with a 10% soap solution. I spray it wherever I see ants and wipe them off. This works better than a contact insecticide because you also erase the pheromone trail the ants are using to find food or water. “
Many species of colorful metallic blowflies are found the world over. To control them, turn to prevention.
“Blowflies really like pet waste,” Sutherland said. “One deposit of waste can sustain a lot of flies. If you have pets, pick up and dispose of their waste.”
As a secondary control, be diligent with structural exclusion. Make sure the doors are closed, window screens are in good repair and screen doors fit well. You can buy aerosol cans of insecticide in home stores, which kills on contact as insects fly through mist. But it is cheaper and safer to kill them with a fly swatter or rolled up paper.
Learn more:
Summertime Household Pests, by Andrew Sutherland, UC IPM webinar on YouTube
UC IPM Pest Notes:
Cockroaches
Ants
Flies
Dozens of other pests