Pest Management & Plant Health

[Originally published on the UC Master Gardener Program Statewide Blog on January 10, 2023] Proper irrigation and drainage are critically important for the health of plants and trees.

An immense amount of rain has fallen across California in recent weeks. While rain is incredibly beneficial, in excess it can cause serious problems. The continued wet conditions opens the door for many pests, so see the list of dos and don'ts below for common wet weather pest prevention tips.

Sugar-feeding ants protect pests that infect trees and damage the fruit they bear. Insecticides are often a go-to solution, but may kill beneficial insects in the process, too.

If you've ever been bitten by a pesky mosquito--who hasn't?--you're hoping researchers will some day be able to control them better and reduce the spread of the deadly diseases they transmit.

Molecular geneticist and mosquito researcher Clment Vinauger, an assistant professor with the Department of Biochemistry, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Va.

From bark beetles to meat-eating bees! And from UC Davis to France... Seminar coordinator Emily Meineke, urban landscape entomologist and assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, has announced the list of the department's 10 winter seminars, which begin Jan.

Seminar coordinator Emily Meineke, urban landscape entomologist and assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, has announced the list of the department's 10 winter seminars, which begin Jan. 11 and continue through March 15.

Oregon State University (OSU) posted an Assistant Extension Professor position. This position has a statewide assignment in integrated weed management for processed and fresh market vegetables and specialty seed industries.

It was a good day for a hike. So Joe Nazarius of Winters embarked on a Dec. 30th hike in the Knoxville Road area, west of Lake Berryessa, when the unexpected happened. "What is this bug buried in Joe's skin?" That's what his wife, Debra LoGuercio DeAngelo, messaged me. She attached a photo.

To catch a cabbage white butterfly... It was early October and a gravid praying mantis, almost ready to deposit her ootheca, was hungry. She crawled behind a cactus in our yard, waiting for prey. It did not take long.