Archive Nut, Prune and Olive Programs

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Western tiger swallowtail on a purple coneflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey
Bug Squad: Article

Purple Coneflower Never Looked So Good

July 12, 2013
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
You never know what you'll see on a purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea). Honey bees. Check. Sweat bees. Check. Hummingbirds. Check. But sometimes these rough-and-tumble blossoms are graced with a Western tiger swallowtail butterfly (Papilio rutulus).
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Cooperative Extension Ventura County: Article

Vol. 11, No. 2, Spring 2013

July 12, 2013
In this Issue: Cultural Practices to Reduce Pest and Disease in Avocado and Citrus Polyphagous Shot Hole Borer in California Electronic "sniffer" for Detecting HLB Important Information Sources related to Fire Management and Protection Be Kill in Oregon - A Reminder of Pesticide Use...
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Crab spider on a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

Lying in Wait

July 11, 2013
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
They're ambush predators. Here you are, a bee, touching down on a flower and little do you know there's a patient and persistent crab spider lying in wait.
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Colusa County: Article

Sacramento Valley Walnut News

July 11, 2013
Irrigation Management Tools for Developing Walnut Trees Walnut Husk Fly Trap Study Howard Nut Drop Ethephon Use Consideration in the Sacramento Valley...
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Average daily temperature
UC Rice Blog: Article

Mild or warm year?

July 11, 2013
By Luis Espino
A few weeks ago I was on the phone with a grower worried that he had put too much nitrogen on his rice for the cool year we were having. Then, the weather turned and got really hot.
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Gulf Fritillary butterfly on lantana. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

That's One Beautiful Butterfly

July 10, 2013
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
First the lantana, and then the passion flower vine. The Gulf Fritillary butterflies (Agraulis vanillae) flutter daily around our backyard. They stop for a little nectar from lantana (family Verbenaceae), and then head over to the passion flower vines (genus Passiflora) to breed or lay their eggs.
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A blue honey bee on a coneflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

Feeling the Blues

July 9, 2013
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
You've probably seen a blue moon, which happens every two to three years. That's when a second full moon occurs in a single calendar month. You've also probably seen blueprints, blue books and blue-plate specials. You've sung the blues and you've been blue.
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Pallidosis disease caused by viruses transmitted by whiteflies and other sources
E-Journal of Entomology and Biologicals: Article

Increased whitefly risk to strawberries as a pest and a vector of the viral disease, pallidosis-related decline

July 9, 2013
Greenhouse whitefly (Trialeurodes vaporariorum) is the predominant species of whiteflies on strawberries in the Central Coast. What used to be a pest causing yield loss through direct damage has now emerged as a vector of a devastating viral disease called pallidosis-related decline of strawberries.
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Honey bees and a sunflower bee forage on a sunflower head. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

Sunny-Side Up

July 8, 2013
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
You can tell it's summer along Yolo County roads by the acres and acres of sunflower fields. Looking like real-life Van Gogh paintings (Van Gogh painted them in vases, Mother Nature paints them in rows), the sunflower fields are nothing short of spectacular.
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