Ongoing research

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Western flower thrips. (Photo by Jack Kelly Clark, courtesy of entomologist Diane Ullman)
Bug Squad: Article

Attacking Thrips

February 12, 2013
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Thrips, those tiny little critters about a millimeter long or less that wreak economic havoc to U.S. agricultural crops--not to mention crops worldwide--may have met their match. They're under attack by entomologist Diane Ullman of UC Davis and her team of eight other investigators.
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Monarch butterflly shares a Tithonia (Mexican sunflower) with a honey bee at the Haagen Dazs Honey Bee Haven, UC Davis, last summer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

Monarch Migrations

February 11, 2013
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Everyone recognizes the mighty monarch butterfly.
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Honey bee heading toward an almond blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

Troubling Bee Shortage in Almond Orchards

February 8, 2013
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
California almond growers are worried--and rightfully so--about the honey bee shortage. Honey bee guru Eric Mussen, Extension apiculturist with the UC Davis Department of Entomology, said today that almond growers may not have enough bees to pollinate this year's crop of 800,000 acres. We need 1.
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olives
Topics in Subtropics: Article

Research Advances on Mitigation of Alternate Bearing in Olive

February 8, 2013
By Ben A Faber
Alternate or biennial bearing is a phenomenon where fruit production alternates between large crops consisting of smaller, lower value fruit during an "ON" year and smaller crops consisting of larger, higher value fruit during an "OFF" year.
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ACP nymphs
Topics in Subtropics: Article

Asian Citrus Psyllid Quarantine Impact on Central Valley Citrus

February 8, 2013
By Ben A Faber
For the last few years citrus growers in the San Joaquin Valley have been nervously watching the establishment of Asian citrus psyllid in southern California and bracing themselves for the day of northward movement. That day arrived in November 2012 when two psyllids (Strathmore 16 Nov.
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bacterial canker
Topics in Subtropics: Article

Avocado Trunk Cankers

February 8, 2013
By Ben A Faber
Avocado Trunk Cankers This has been a low rainfall year, and often with the low rainfall, cankers will seem to suddenly appear on the woody parts of the tree. There are a number of causes for the white exudate from cankers on the trunk and limbs of avocado.
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Black streak disease in avocado can be managed with irrigation as described in the IPM Year Round Program
Topics in Subtropics: Article

Year Round IPM Guides

February 8, 2013
By Ben A Faber
SKIP TO CONTENT PRINT Guided tour of the year-round IPM programs for field, orchard, and vineyard crops. (Detailed outlinewith links to examples) Introduction (3 min) Prevention (3 min) Pest identification (4.5 min) Monitoring (5 min) Management decisions (6 min) Management methods (6.
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Table for one, please! A honey bee in the shadows of a daphne bloom at the Storer Garden, UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bug Squad: Article

Table for One, Please

February 7, 2013
By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Ah, what an intoxicating scent! If you've ever been around the winter daphne, Daphne odora, cultivar "Aureomarginata," you know that its aroma precedes it. You'll ask "What's that fragrance?" before you even see the showy pink-and-white blossoms and its green leaves edged in gold.
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