Pest Management & Plant Health

Spotting a small moth fluttering around your closet then discovering damaged fabric or other items can be shocking. Upon further inspection, you may even see the silken webs spun by the larvae, or the droppings they leave behind.

Last year about this time, I posted a blog regarding an ongoing trial investigating various herbicides for Pre-emergent Control of Medusahead. I wanted to follow up on that trial which I deemed unsuccessful and share some of the data collected in 2017.

Italian ryegrass (Lolium perenne spp. Multiflorum), is an annual grass common in Sacramento Valley orchard and field crops (Figure 1).

Conenose or kissing bugs' (Triatoma spp.) are in the Reduviidae family, a group of insects known for a sturdy body and large proboscis. Most reduviids are beneficial as insect predators, and include various species of assassin bugs.

Spring doesn't "spring" on the University of California, Davis campus. Sometimes it skitters, scampers and scoots. That's in between the cool and warm temperatures that deceive us--and the bees.

Picture 1: Adult alfalfa weevil Alfalfa weevils, key pests of alfalfa hay, have been showing pyrethroid insecticide resistance within the Intermountain region, specifically in the Scott Valley area west of Mount Shasta.

Pesticide Safety Instructor Training Workshops Update your knowledge of changing regulations! This course meets the requirements established by the revised Worker Protection Standard, which is mandated by the US Environmental Protection Agency and the California Department of Pesticide Regulation.

Campers and hikers are often warned to avoid poison oak in summer by looking out for green plants with glossy leaflets of three. However, as weather cools, the appearance of the plant changes, making it more difficult to identify.

"Vector-borne diseases remain a key threat to human health, wildlife, and plants, in part, due to the multitude of factors that influence their transmission," says biologist A. Marm Kilpatrick, assistant professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, UC Santa Cruz.

Weeds can be a real nuisance in gardens and landscapes, and even during the colder winter months, some kinds of weeds continue to grow and thrive. These are called winter annual weeds. Most weeds are classified as annuals, biennials, or perennials.