Invasive Species Management

The black fig fly is a new invasive species recently found in Southern California. It has been found in fig orchards in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, Santa Barbara, San Bernardino, San Diego, and Ventura counties. This small insect attacks only figs and prefers unripe or unpollinated fruit.

Two identical looking species of wood-boring beetles, collectively known as invasive shothole borers (ISHB), have killed thousands of trees in Southern California and pose an ongoing threat to California's urban and wildland forests.

California has abundant wildlands forests, rangeland, open areas, wildlife refuges and national, state, and local parks that need protection from invasive plants.

The giant whitefly is not a gargantuan monster out of an old sci-fi movie, although it is quite a bit larger compared to other whiteflies. Whiteflies are typically tiny insects that are hard to spot on plants unless they are flying, but the giant whitefly is more obvious.

California Invasive Species Action Week began Saturday, June 5 and runs through Sunday, June 13, 2021. Increasing public awareness of invasive species and their impacts helps protect our natural resources, waterways, native species, agriculture, and health.

Invasive pests threaten California's natural environments, agricultural production, structures, landscapes and gardens, causing billions of dollars of damage to our agricultural systems and natural areas each year.

Weeds are usually thought of as native plants we don't want in areas such as landscapes, fields, or vegetable gardens either because they reduce economic output or they are considered aesthetically displeasing.

The white garden snail (Theba pisana), sometimes known as the Italian white snail, can be a serious pest of landscape ornamentals, including trees, shrubs, groundcovers, and herbaceous plants (Figure 1).

The spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) is a new exotic pest that was first detected in Pennsylvania in 2014 and has since moved to other nearby states (Figure 1).

We've had many reports in the last two weeks from people asking what those big green, buzzing, beetles are. Green fruit beetles (Cotinis mutabilis) are members of the scarab beetle family and are sometimes known as fig beetles or figeater beetles. They are related to green June beetles (C.