Gardening

These days, most people are wearing masks when out in public for personal protection for themselves or others. In nature, there are a few pests that have their own type of face coverings, markings, or that other types of protective covers or behavior.

While many of you are preparing for the 4th of July holiday, we at UC IPM are also thinking about stars and stripes but in a slightly different way: yellow starthistle and striped skunks.

This year, National Pollinator Week is June 22 to June 28, celebrating the value that pollinators such as bees, birds, butterflies, bats, and beetles provide to the ecosystem.

In the last week, we have highlighted some invasive species that damage and threaten California's natural resources. If you missed any of our posts, click on the species listed below.

Brooms are shrubs which were originally planted in California as ornamentals and for erosion control, but are now considered to be invasive weeds since they are highly competitive. They crowd out native plants and form impenetrable barriers to wildlife.

Nutria are found near rivers, streams, lakes, ponds and wetlands. Their burrowing and feeding on vegetation can cause damage. In addition, they can carry pathogens and parasites.

Small beetles are causing big problems in Southern California. Two closely related species, the polyphagous shot hole borer and the Kuroshio shot hole borer (collectively referred to as invasive shot hole borers), have been attacking more than 60 species of trees.

UC IPM agrees that Black lives matter, and that we must act now to end the systemic racism that allows police violence to take Black lives, including George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Stephon Clark, Darell Richards, Marshall Miles, Joseph Mann, Atatiana Jefferson, Sandra Bland, and countles...

While some may find them cute, both the Eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) and the Eastern fox squirrel (S. nigeri) are actually invasive species in California. They are two of four species of tree squirrels found throughout the state.

Stink bugs are common pests in gardens but the brown marmorated stink bug, or BMSB, is of particular concern. BMSB (Halyomorpha halys) was first detected in Los Angeles County in 2006 and has since been detected in many other parts of California with large populations in some counties.