Pests in the Urban Landscape

The invasive pest spotlight focuses on emerging or potential invasive pests in California. In this issue we are covering nutria. Nutria Facts The nutria is a large semi-aquatic rodent introduced to California in the early 1900s to be farmed for their fur. When the fur market collapsed, many nutria…

Let’s be real—California's rodent issue is extensive. In some areas, it may seem like an infinite sea of rats and mice. Commensal rodents, those that live among and benefit from association with humans, significantly affect public health, environmental sustainability, and urban infrastructure.  …

Botryosphaeria canker, sometimes called Bot canker, is a common fungal disease that can affect many tree species including ash, eucalyptus, fig, maple, pistachio, and walnut. Plants infected with this disease typically develop cankers (dark sunken lesions in the bark) and can lose branches. The whole…

It’s almost Halloween, so many of us are thinking about jack-o-lanterns, skeletons, and mummies. When you think of a mummy, you probably imagine the scary kind inspired by the ancient Egyptian ritual of preserving the bodies of the dead. When we talk about mummies at UC IPM, we mean something completely…

Have you noticed groups of black bugs with colorful markings hanging out on the sidewalk or your porch? Maybe you’ve seen them on fruit trees or in your veggie garden. It can seem like they’re everywhere, but what are they? Where you find them can give you a clue about what they are and how to handle…