Test PB Collection: FTE

How blue can it be? We spotted a metallic blue bug, one of nature's most amazing colors, last Sunday. It was in the Mostly Natives Nursery in Tomales, a Marin County site frequented by many University of California entomologists and staff as they work on their urban bee research and publications.

I recently ran across a report published by Crop Life International (a federation of plant science industry companies) on the cost of getting a "biotech" crop variety to market.

The first segment of the Conservation Agriculture Systems Innovation (CASI) six-part video documentary debuts today on the CASI website. (The video is also posted below.

While scouting for blast, a PCA noticed some yellow leaf tips. Close inspection revealed aphids. He got a little worried since he's never seen aphids on rice during his long career. They turned out to be yellow sugarcane aphid.

Sometimes you'll see him sitting cross-legged on the floor, circled by first graders. They're asking questions like "What is an insect?" and "How long do insects live?" and "What do they eat?" Sometimes you'll see him holding Madagascar hissing cockroaches and explaining why they hiss.

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Invasive Ambrosia Beetle/Fusarium Complex A Public Meeting You are invited to attend a public meeting about the invasive ambrosia beetle/Fusarium complex that are threatening avocado, oak, sycamore, persimmon, and box elder trees in California.

It's good to see county and state fairs focusing on bugs 'n bees. These displays inform, educate and entertain. The California State Fair, Sacramento, traditionally features an Insect Pavilion, which includes exotic and invasive species.

The development of improved cultivation technology for row crop production has been an active area of research, and has made significant progress in recent years. Currently, standard cultivation removes weeds from the majority of the bed using sweeps, knives, coulters and blades.

It was great to see Robert E. Page Jr., emeritus professor and former chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology, be selected as one of the 10 fellows of the 6000-member Entomological Society of America for 2012.