Test PB Collection: FTE

RECOGNIZING NATURAL ENEMIES Proper identification of pests, and distinguishing pests from natural enemies, is essential for effective biological control. Carefully observe the mites and insects on your plants to help discern their activity.

I've always rather liked katydids. Anyone who is called "Kate" or "Katy" in their childhood usually winds up with "Katydid" as a nickname. And they repeatedly hear "Katy did. Katy didn't" (the sound the insect makes).

The annual California Rice Field Day is coming up on Wed., Aug. 26, 2015 at the Rice Experiment Station (RES) in Biggs, California.

Whenever folks post photos of praying mantids, their readers expect to see prey. You know, the hapless bee or butterfly that made the fatal mistake of getting too close to those spiked forelegs. This praying mantis (below) appeared to have been a hapless victim of another predator.

Who knew? UC Riverside entomologist Peter Graystock and colleagues Dave Goulson and William O. H.

Chlorpyrifos (Lorsban) is a pesticide long used in citrus along with many other crops. It is an organophosphate that has value partly because it is persistent, which is also one of its drawbacks. One of its uses is to control ant species that "farm" such pests as mealybug, aphids and scales.

Here are the top 10 blogs from Topics in Subtropics over the last 5 years. The two earliest and latest pertain to how you select products that will truly help you from amongst all those that are being promoted. Some of these have been around a long time, so that's why they are the most read.

August 20 & 21, 2015 Geospatial Innovation Facility @ Mulford Hall, UC Berkeley What will you learn?

They look like shiny blue and black needles. Make that "flying" shiny blue and black needles. We spotted this damselfly foraging on a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia) this week in our family bee garden. The blue was breathtaking.

This is the island of Nihoa, northwest of Kauai, viewed in Google Maps. Hawaii on my mind. Anyway, it is a funny shot with mixed resolutions, and what looks to be a bordered image without its adjacent partner images. Web link: https://www.google.com/maps/@23.0606579,-161.