Posts Tagged: beetle

The Black Fire Beetle: As if Firefighters Didn’t Have Enough to Worry About….

Once again, we are experiencing a summer of devastating fires, with repercussions that will last decades or even longer. One of the lesser-known ways in which wildfires wreak havoc is the fact that they create ideal conditions for a particular pest,...

Blister Beetles!

I have gotten quite a few calls about blister beetles this year. There was a newspaper article up in Modoc that caused some stir, and was picked up by a lot of social media pages. So, what are blister beetles and why do we care? Blister beetles get...

Seeing Spots and Holes?

So there you are, admiring your Coreopsis and suddenly you notice spots and holes--spots on the backs of two western spotted cucumber beetles, and holes cut in the petals. Ah, there's two of them. The beetles, about a fourth of an inch long, are...

Two Western spotted cucumber beetles, Diabrotica undecimpunctata, on a Coreposis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Two Western spotted cucumber beetles, Diabrotica undecimpunctata, on a Coreposis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Lawn-pocalypse! Surviving Drought

Ah, summer! The season of sunburns, pool parties, and… lawn droughts. If your once lush, green carpet now looks like a crunchy brown doormat, you're not alone. Let's dive into why your yard is staging a dramatic death scene and what you can do to...

Bermuda grass and weeds overtaking drought stressed turf grass.

A patch of former lawn, mostly dead, with a few green weeds and Bermudagrass

The Secret Life of a Blister Beetle

Blister beetles (family Meloidae) are so named because they emit a poisonous chemical, cantharidin, that can blister your skin. Don't even think about touching them! Blister beetles can infest alfalfa hay, and are toxic--even...

A blister beetle (family Meloidae) eating pollen from the Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A blister beetle (family Meloidae) eating pollen from the Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Read more