Pest Management & Plant Health

Aphids are really bad this year! This is what we've been hearing on social media and from many home gardeners. Aphids can curl leaves, stunt plant growth, and make a mess by the sticky honeydew they exude. Some aphid species create galls which can also damage plants.

I've been hearing people say the aphids are really bad this year. While we can't confirm whether that is true, I know my roses are covered! There are many ways aphids can be controlled in the garden and landscape.

The annual Picnic Day celebration at UC Davis is going virtual! Most years, the UC IPM urban & community team participates by giving out ladybugs to kids and families at our educational booth to teach people about the good bugs that help control pests in the garden and landscape.

I was out last night above the river to take some pictures, and I noticed that as the sun went behind the mountains I was joined by some unwelcome visitors: mosquitoes. I suspect they were males as I didn't end up with any bites, and they were mostly hovering above me.

April showers bring June flowers, but spring also brings seminars about insects.

Many plant species are leafing out and flowering earlier in response to rising temperatures, and those that are not are declining at alarming rates in some circumstances, says urban landscape entomologist Emily Meineke of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology in newly published resear...

Are bats good for the environment or are they pests? How about both? Almost all of the 25 species of bats in California eat lots of flying insects during their night flights, making them an important part of the ecosystem. But when they roost in buildings such as your home, they can become pests.

The schedule for the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology's online spring seminars has been announced by coordinator Ian Grettenberger, Cooperative Extension specialist and assistant professor. All seminars will be held on Wednesdays at 4:10 p.m. (Pacific).

30th Annual UCR Urban Pest Management Conference was held online between March 22 - 24, 2021. The event had more than 110 attendees from many different areas of California and other parts of the US.

Insect physiologist Swapna Priya Rajarapu, a postdoctoral research scholar in the Dorith Rotenberg laboratory at North Carolina State University, Raleigh, will present the next seminar hosted by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.