Pest Management & Plant Health

On a day too cold for honey bees to fly and nearly too cold for bundled dignitaries to speak, officials celebrated the opening of the newly constructed USDA-ARS bee research facility on Bee Biology Road, UC Davis campus.

(Collaborative history of the UC Davis bee biology program.) George Haymaker Vansell (1892-1954) was a student at UC Davis who eventually helped with the instruction of entomology and apiculture beginning in 1920 and ending in 1931.

[From UC IPM's Pests in the Urban Landscape Blog] At some point, all of us encounter a pest in our home, garden, or landscape.

When you watch bats emerge at dusk in the summer from the Yolo Causeway, have you ever wondered what insects they eat? UC Davis doctoral candidate Ann Holmes has--and she's doing research on what's in their guano (feces).

At some point, all of us encounter a pest in our home, garden, or landscape. But you're not alone! UC IPM publishes Pest Notes a series of more than 150 papers reviewed by experts in the field to provide science-based information about pests and their management.

How do fruit flies tell time? How do monarch butterflies know when to migrate? How can assassin flies overcome prey much larger than they are? How do bark beetles wreak havoc in our forests? What insects do bats eat?

UC Davis nematologist Valerie Williamson participated on the research team led by the Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI), Ithaca, N.Y., that revealed how plants manipulate nematode pheromones to repel infestations.

Noted entomologist and ant specialist Corrie Moreau will present a UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology seminar, "Piecing Together the Puzzle to Understand the Evolution of the Ants: Macroevolution to Microbiomes" from 4:10 to 5 p.m., Wednesday, Jan.

The University of California Intermountain Research and Extension Center (IREC) is soliciting proposals for new and continuing research projects for project year 2020-2021.

Cockroaches, or roaches, are probably some of the least welcome insects people encounter in their homes, kitchens, offices, restaurants, or landscapes. Indoor cockroaches can create significant public health problems by contaminating food and producing allergens.