Pest Management & Plant Health

By Laura Lukes, UC Master Gardener of Butte County, January 19, 2018 Be on the lookout for the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug (BMSB), says Emily Symmes, the newly-appointed Butte County Director for UC Cooperative Extension.

The gypsy moth, an interloper from Europe and Asia, is threatening California's majestic oaks in Ventura County. Invasive desert knapweed, which comes from Africa, has made its first North American appearance in in California's Anza-Borrego Desert, where it has started to crowd out native plants.

Are you surprised to see aphids on some of your plants this time of year? With the current mild temperatures in California, aphids may continue living and reproducing in some locations this winter, with female adults giving birth to live young every day.

Bug-Art@The Bohart" will set the theme for the Bohart Museum of Entomology open house from 1 to 4 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 21 in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, Crocker Lane.

The UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology is gearing up for a plethora of seminars for the winter quarter--ranging from understanding insect behavior to understanding biodiversity. The department launched the seminars Wednesday, Jan.

How appropriate are many of the common names of insects! Take the immature form (caterpillar) of the moth, Schizura concinna, family Notodontidae. We first spotted this caterpillar on our Western redbud tree (Cercis occidentalis) in September 2010. It has a red hump.

Register for the U.S. EPA Webinar: It Takes an Integrated Pest Management Village - IPM for a Healthier Home and Community Date: Tuesday, January 23, 2018 Time: 2:00 3:00 p.m. ET (11:00 a.m. 12:00 p.m.

The redhumped caterpillar is a familiar pest on fruit and nut trees such as plum, almond, cherry, and apple, as well as on ornamental trees like liquidambar and birch. It can reach high populations in California's Central Valley, sometimes defoliating entire trees.

UC Davis epidemiologist Amy Morrison knows Iquitos, Peru, like the back of her hand. Travelers know Iquitos as the "capital of the Peruvian Amazon" but scientists know it as a hot spot for dengue, a mosquito-borne viral disease with raging outbreaks in many tropical and subtropical countries.

How are the bees doing? When the American Beekeeping Federation (ABF) meets Jan. 9-13 at the Grand Sierra Resort, Reno, Nev. for its 75th annual American Beekeeping Federation Conference & Tradeshow, the key concern is bee health. Sadly, colony losses continue to take their toll.