Ongoing research

real time map of flights from planefinder.netYou've probably seen the frequently-cited "Misery Map" (D3 behind the scenes) showing how the Thanksgiving storm has blown many a tight travel plan off schedule. Here is another cool one: real-time map of all the flights in the air.

Some folks mistake the spotted cucumber beetle for a ladybug or lady beetle. However, unlike the beneficial ladybug, which devours aphids and other soft-bodied insects, the spotted cucumber beetle is a major agricultural pest.

Reposted (with permission) from the Strawberries and Caneberries UC ANR blog Link to original post (October 11, 2013): Clarification on the Use of Chateau (flumioxazin) prior to Strawberry Transplanting written by Oleg Daugovish, Steve Fennimore, and Mark Bolda Great post Mark! Brad A response to th...

What a stunning photo! Rachel Graham, a master's student in entomology at the University of California, Davis who loves photographing insects, recently submitted an image of a blue dasher, Pachydiplax longipennis, for the Entomological Society of America's 2014 World of Insects calendar.

Discovering the World Through GIS November 20, 2013 - UC Berkeley, Mulford Hall GIS Day provides an international forum for users of geographic information systems (GIS) technology to demonstrate real-world applications that are making a difference in our society.

Update: View a video of the two-hour program online. Innovative soil enhancement practices are being researched and implemented around the world, but havent caught on yet in most of California.

As fall fades and winter beckons, we're still seeing skipper butterflies foraging in cosmos, lantana and other flowers. Lepidopterans study 'em but we just admire 'em. Distinguishing characteristics of skippers include "clubs" on the tips of their antennae, and those huge, compound eyes.

Advances in mitigation of alternate bearing of olive: vegetative growth response to plant growth regulators Elizabeth Fichtner, UCCE Farm Advisor, Tulare County, and Carol Lovatt, Professor of Plant Physiology, Botany and Plant Sciences, UC-Riverside.

Citrus and avocado are of subtropical and tropical origin are cold-tender plants that have not developed the effective cold hardening process of deciduous trees that drop their leaves and go dormant. Even within deciduous, temperate tree species there are ranges of frost tolerance.

I recently met with a grower who wanted to put down a preemergent herbicide to get ahead of winter weeds. The crop he is growing has very limited choices but Surflan A.S. could be used.