Pest Management & Plant Health

From honey bees to butterflies to nematodes--those will be some of the topics when the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology hosts its fall quarter seminars. The seminars begin Monday afternoon, Sept. 30 and continue every Monday through Dec. 2.

Since the first reports of a new almond pest the carpophilus beetle (Carpophilus truncatus) came in during fall 2023, it has become clear that the beetle is widely dispersed across the San Joaquin Valley.

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Just a few more weeks of summer remain! As the weather begins to shift, you may need to adjust your landscaping practices to prevent and monitor for fall pests. The UC IPM Seasonal Landscape IPM Checklist is a monthly guide to help you avoid common pests of landscape plants.

There aren't that many nematologists who can say their career spans 64 years. UC Davis Distinguished Professor Emeritus Howard Ferris can.

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 their name for a reason.

Nobody wants cockroaches in their home, especially since these pests can cause and worsen allergies in children, transmit diseases and bacteria, and contaminate foods.

Nematodes are where it's at! Two UC Davis nematology doctoral students were invited to give research presentations at the international Society of Nematologists' conference in Park City, Utah and they excelled.

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 fun to photograph, but they're not your buddies.

Fleas can be found on pets year-round, but populations tend to increase dramatically in spring and summer when temperatures are warmer. Larvae develop rapidly in areas where temperatures reach 70 to 90F.