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A monarch flag signifies the home of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.

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UC Davis Picnic Day: Ready, Set, Go!

April 11th, 2025

Bug Squad BlogBy Kathy Keatley GarveyThe long-awaited UC Davis Picnic Day activities at Briggs Hall will begin at 9 a.m., Saturday, April 12 and continue until 5 p.m.It promises to be a fun-filled and educational event where roaches races, maggots crawl and the crowd cheers. And everyone learns more…

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Patio gardens of Cordoba, Spain

April 11th, 2025

Blog by CIndy Yee, UC Master GardenerGreetings from a Road Scholar tour called “Tales of Iberia: Portugal and Spain”. In Cordoba, our local guide Lucia took us to visit a few local home patio gardens, which are basically enclosed courtyards or atriums. Annually, every May, Cordoba holds a…

Image of phone with robot image in a farm field

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Survey on AI Chatbot in Farming

April 11th, 2025

By Mercy Olmstead

This short survey aims to gather your valuable insights on how a specialized agricultural chatbot could assist with your day-to-day farming operations. You can either test our prototype and compare it with ChatGPT, or simply share which features would be most beneficial for your specific farming context.The…

Phone with robot image in a farm field

Article

Survey on AI Chatbots in Farming

April 11th, 2025

This short survey aims to gather your valuable insights on how a specialized agricultural chatbot could assist with your day-to-day farming operations. You can either test our prototype and compare it with ChatGPT, or simply share which features would be most beneficial for your specific farming context.The…

Ranunculus flowers at The Flower Fields in Carlsbad

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Summit to showcase California agritourism best practices, May 14-15

April 11th, 2025

By Michael Hsu

The California Agritourism Summit, May 14-15 in San Diego County, will bring together agritourism stakeholders to share current initiatives and industry developments, gain practical tools to start or expand an agritourism business, develop strategic partnerships, and create a collective vision for the future…

Lady beetle in flight. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Ladybug, Ladybug, Fly Away Home!

April 10th, 2025

Bug Squad BlogBy Kathy Keatley Garvey"Ladybug, ladybug, fly away home!"Your house is on fire and your children are gone”Who hasn’t loved that nursery rhyme about ladybugs? (Actually, ladybugs are beetles, not bugs, but that’s a different story.)At the 111th annual campuswide UC Davis Picnic Day on…

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Spring Flower: The Freesia

April 10th, 2025

Blog by Brenda Altman, UC Master Gardener Fragrant freesias are a sure sign of spring. Freesias are a flowering bulb plant native to South Africa. The bulbs are fuzzy and teardrop-shaped and 1” high. The plants grow about a foot high and develop fingerlike flower stems which open and produce…

Bermuda buttercup infesting a bed of landscaped plants.

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Spring is in the Air, and Oxalis is Everywhere

April 10th, 2025

By Lindsey Hack

Bermuda buttercup (Oxalis pes-caprae), also called buttercup oxalis or sourgrass, might be a familiar sight in winter and spring, particularly to those who live in coastal regions or the Sacramento Valley. Some people enjoy seeing this plant’s cheerful yellow flowers pop up in their spring gardens, but for…

Water in a stream flows over river rocks with forest in background

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UCLA, UC ANR establish water supply-wildfire research and policy coordination network

April 10th, 2025

UCLA’s Climate & Wildfire Research Initiative (CWRI) is launching a new Urban Water Supply + Fire working group to function as a research and policy coordination network. This effort formalizes a forum where UCLA can come together and coordinate efforts with the University of California Agriculture and…

Malaria mosquito, Anopheles stephensi, drawing blood. (Wikipedia Photo)

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Mosquito Researcher to Discuss His Work on Immune Cells

April 9th, 2025

Bug Squad BlogBy Kathy Keatley Garvey"Mosquitoes are arguably the deadliest animal on the planet, threatening half of the world's population with the risk of mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue."So says mosquito researcher Ryan Smith, an associate professor in Iowa State University's…

HLB Deformed Fruit

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HLB Found in Arizona

April 9th, 2025

By Ben A Faber

HLB was recently confirmed for the first time in Arizona, first in an Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) and then in another ACP and citrus plant tissue. The Arizona Department of Agriculture (AZDA) reported the details.On Dec. 16, 2024, agriculture inspectors collected ACP and plant tissue samples from a…

Bug Squad template. Bumble bee foraging on bull thistle. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Nothing But Net--And a Butterfly

April 8th, 2025

You may not be a proficient at netting an insect like entomologist Fran Keller, UC Davis doctoral alumna and Folsom Lake College professor is, but you can try your skills at the 111th annual UC Davis Picnic Day on Saturday, April 12 and maybe win a poster.The Bohart Museum of Entomology invites you to…

A hand holding a couple dozen pelleted seeds

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Sowing Pelleted Seeds

April 8th, 2025

by Alison Collin Inyo-Mono Master Gardener Volunteer One of the most tedious gardening jobs at this time of year must surely be thinning seedling crops such as carrots and beetroot. If you have ever done this you must have experienced the dilemma of having a cluster of beautiful young plants that…

Leaves and twigs make excellent additions to the compost pile. J.C. Lawrence

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Nurture the Soil

April 7th, 2025

When is soil more than just dirt? When you want to grow healthy plants in your yard and garden, the soil is as important a factor as are water and sunlight. You can improve your soil's ability to support thriving plants of all kinds by protecting it from compaction, amending it with nutrients, and adding…

Bug Squad template. Bumble bee foraging on bull thistle. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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Run, Roaches, Run!

April 7th, 2025

A picnic is not a picnic without bugs.Bugs may be "univited guests" at your picnic, but at the campuswide UC Davis Picnic Day, they're celebrities.Yes, celebrities.The UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology (ENT) again will host its fan-favorite roach races at at Briggs Hall on Saturday,…

Bee flying towards tree blossoms

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Gardeners with Heart: Champions of Sustainable Landscaping

April 7th, 2025

By Katherine Uhde

Across California, UC Master Gardener volunteers are making local landscapes greener and healthier. These volunteers don't just plant flowers – they're building a better future for all of us! Let's meet some of these gardening champions and learn how they're changing their communities with sustainable…

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Upcoming Field Days Featuring California Small Grain Cropping Systems

April 7th, 2025

By Mark E Lundy

Save the dates!There are two upcoming opportunities to attend field days and learn about current work related to small grain crops in California:Thursday, April 10, 10AM – 12PM, Fresno State Center for Irrigation TechnologyFresno State will be hosting a Field Day this coming Thursday, 4/10 in…

Calfresh Healthy Living, UC Cooperative Extension educators stand next to partners at St. Mary's Community Services in front of the family lodge in Stockton

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Budgeting course provides ‘head start’ for people in transitional housing

April 7th, 2025

By Michael Hsu

St. Mary’s – a community-based organization in Stockton that provides essential services, social services, health services, and emergency shelter and housing services – started offering the basic money-management class in January 2024. It's the result of a partnership with University of California…

Bug Squad template. Bumble bee foraging on bull thistle

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Spotlighting Bumble Bee Research in the Neal Williams' Lab

April 4th, 2025

UC Davis bumble bee research in the news!The Ecological Society of America (ESA) recently spotlighted bumble bee research from the laboratory of pollinator ecologist Neal Williams, a professor in the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.ESA singled out “Predicting Landscape-Scale Native…

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Late Rains, Small Plants, Fast Phenology

April 4th, 2025

By Chris J McDonald

Originally Posted April 1, 2025. This year in Southern California the rainy season got off to a late start. Southern California has received about one half of the average precipitation total as of this writing (and that's not an April fool's joke). Last year we had over 50% more rainfall than the…

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