Pest Management & Plant Health

Let's consider plant-insect interactions in agro-ecosystems. That's what Katja Poveda, assistant professor of entomology, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., does.

You're thinking about making Grandma's Southern Cornbread. You head for your pantry. You remember that six months ago you purchased a bag of cornmeal from a local supermarket and that you immediately emptied the contents into a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid.

Norman Knows... Horntailed Wasps In keeping with wood damaging insects, we turn to an unusual group of insects - the wood wasps, also known as horntails. These primitive wasps actually bore in and feed on wood. They are large, almost two inches in length, with a long ovipositor on the female.

Norman Knows... Western Drywood Termites Probably the biggest termite pest in this area is the Western Drywood Termite. No doubt, many of us have seen the homes and buildings covered with large tarps, or perhaps had your own home covered for fumigation.

Ella Mae Noffsinger, 84, who retired in 1991 as the senior museum scientist in charge of the UC Davis Nematode Collection, passed away March 22, 2018 in Woodland. She was a longtime resident of Palm Gardens Assisted Living, Woodland.

Ever seen this mottled brownish/blackish/grayish moth around lately? The alfalfa looper moth, Autographa californica?

Yesterday we posted an Easter egg hunt challenge, and as promised, here are the adult insects and spiders with their matching eggs or egg cases pictured.

Easter often brings to mind colorful eggs hiding in the landscape for children to find. At UC IPM, we thought you'd want to know about eggs already hiding in your yard: insect and spider eggs! Many insects and spiders have strangely shaped and colorful eggs that you may have never noticed.

Integrated pest management (IPM) scientists affiliated with the University of California, Davis and the UC Agriculture and Natural Resources received high accolades at the 9th International IPM Symposium, held March 19-22 in Baltimore.

So you're a rural landowner thinking about planting cover crops in your fields or orchards. And/or, you want to learn more about beneficial insects. You're in luck.