Backyard Orchard News
Plants Can Eavesdrop, Sense Danger
Plants can eavesdrop. They can sense danger. So says ecologist Richard 'Rick' Karban,...
Ecologist Rick Karban has researched plant communication in sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) on the east side of the Sierra since 1995.
Updates on Huanglongbing Disease and Asian Citrus Psyllid
The UC ANR web site Asian Citrus Psyllid Distribution and Management http://ucanr.edu/sites/ACP/Distribution_of_ACP_in_California/ provides a zoomable web map that shows the quarantine boundaries around the HLB-infected trees (found and removed) in southern California.
If you click on the layers drop down arrow, you can turn off the ACP layer and check the box for the newly released Diaphorencyrtus parasitic wasp and see where it has been released to help reduce Asian citrus psyllid in residential areas (you can also view the Tamarixia wasp). http://ucanr.edu/sites/ACP/Distribution_of_ACP_in_California/
So You Want to Be a Beekeeper...
So you want to be a beekeeper...but you don't know where to begin. You're in luck. Bee...
UC Davis Extension apiculturist Elina Niño (left) explaining bee biology. At right is staff research associate Bernardo Niño, her husband. They will teach two short courses in September. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Honey bees, as seen through a bee observation hive. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Two Predators, One Prey
Sometimes you just can't win for losing. This morning a newly emerged Gulf Fritillary butterfly...
A praying mantis snares a newly emerged Gulf Fritillary butterfly. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A European paper wasp is an uninvited guest. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The presence of the uninvited dinner guest does not go unnoticed. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Spittin' Image
Talk about a spittin' image. When you see one spittlebug froth, you've seen them all, right? They...
There's a spittlebug nympth inside this frothy material. This one is on lavender. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
An adult spittlebug. (Photo by Jack Kelly Clark, courtesy of UC IPM)