Pest Management & Plant Health

One of the beautiful things about conducting "NO SPRAY" plant trials is seeing just how resilient landscapes can be if you give them a chance.

Following a tip generated by citizen scientists in the Porterville/Tulare area, UC ANR researchers have installed traps to determine the potential for Velvet longhorned beetle, Trichoferus campestris (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), introduction to the southern San Joaquin Valley.

Rhonda Smith has been heralded as the heroine of the vineyards for her groundbreaking work in helping combat the parade of pathogens and other problems that have plagued grapevines and alarmed growers - during her more than 30 years as Sonoma County's viticulture advisor.

This year, National Pollinator Week is June 22 to June 28, celebrating the value that pollinators such as bees, birds, butterflies, bats, and beetles provide to the ecosystem.

How do you keep ants off your hummingbird feeders? That was a question a Bug Squad reader asked: "I was wondering if you had any tips on how to keep ants off and out of the hummingbird feeder? I've put Vaseline on the line it hangs from, and that helped for a long time.

If you lived in Marin prior to 1988 you remember a time when the only turkeys you saw were at the grocery store. This is because, in 1988, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife introduced wild turkeys onto Loma Alta hill on the west side of Lucas Valley.

Don't let that photo fool you. Yes, that's UC Davis distinguished professor Bruce Hammock "resting" in a hammock on the UC Davis campus.

UC Davis distinguished professor Bruce Hammock, internationally recognized for his work in alleviating inflammatory and neuropathic pain in humans and companion animals--and known as the founder of the field of environmental immunoassays--is the recipient of the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Awar...

In the last week, we have highlighted some invasive species that damage and threaten California's natural resources. If you missed any of our posts, click on the species listed below.

Brooms are shrubs which were originally planted in California as ornamentals and for erosion control, but are now considered to be invasive weeds since they are highly competitive. They crowd out native plants and form impenetrable barriers to wildlife.