Pest Management & Plant Health

Have you ever seen a plume moth? Or has a plume moth ever seen you? We spotted a pterophorid plume moth (family Pterophoridae) yesterday on our back door in Vacaville, Calif.

To control spider mites, many almond farmers have taken to routinely spraying their trees with a miticide in May. However, research by UC Integrated Pest Management advisor Kris Tollerup shows that the pesticide application could cause more harm than good.

Spring has arrived and with many Californians at home due to local coronavirus directives, now could be an opportune time for some spring cleaning. This annual ritual also has the benefit of preventing and reducing indoor pests.

So, you're sheltering in place and thinking about honey bees, bumble bees, monarchs and assorted other insects. Nematodes, too. And maybe a spider or two? You're in luck.

What do pest control and public health campaigns against SARS Cov-2 have in common? Both activities use pesticides. In the eyes of the law, sanitizer and disinfectant products are considered pesticides.

Many parks, recreational areas, and outdoor venues in California are home to yellowjacket wasps (Vespula spp.). Yellowjackets are commonly attracted to human food items, creating a serious nuisance and a potential stinging threat.

Out-of-place and troublesome species, such as feral hogs, wild horses and burros, may actually be restoring the ecological services of extinct animals, says UC Davis evolutionary biologist Scott Carroll, co-author of a newly published article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (P...

If you missed any of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology's fall and winter seminars, 2019-2020, here are the links to the videos. Community ecologist Rachel Vannette, assistant professor, coordinated the seminars.

This spring if you are looking for options to obtain your continuing education units (CEUs) and not sure where to get them, why not check out the online options that the UC Statewide IPM Program (UC IPM) has to offer.

"Eat your greens," they say. Okay, we don't need any encouragement, but apparently many other folks need a push, a poke or a prod to eat cole crops, including cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, mustard, kale and kohlrabi. Well, cabbage aphids need no encouragement.