Category: Pests & Disease

Help Fight the Invasive Air Potato Vine in St. Lucie County

by Sara MacDonald
July 24, 2025

It’s that time of year again, air potato vines are starting to sprout, and many of us are wondering: how can we get rid of them? What is the air potato? The air potato (Dioscorea bulbifera) is a fast-growing, invasive vine originally from ... READ MORE

Category: Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Invasive Species, Pests & Disease, Pests & Disease, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Air Potato, Air Potato Leaf Beetle, Biological Control, Integrated Pest Management, Invasive Species, IPM

Scaring neighbors and causing community tension: Study uncovers cost of invasive chameleons

by Lourdes Mederos
July 22, 2025

When exotic chameleons creep into a suburban Florida neighborhood, they bring more than their color-changing charm. They can also spark confusion, curiosity and social chaos. A new study by scientists at the University of Florida Institute ... READ MORE

Category: , Conservation, Forests, Invasive Species, Pests & Disease, Pests & Disease, SFYL Hot Topic, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Research, Wildlife
Tags: Central Florida, Chameleon, Diane Sturgeon, Exotic Pet Market, IFAS, Invasion Science Institute, Invasive Reptiles, Invasive Species, Invasive Species Management, Lourdes Mederos, News, Non-native Species, Orange County, Panther Chameleon, Public, Residential Neighborhood, Societal Effects, Society, Species, Species Introduction, Stakeholders, UF/IFAS Wildlife Ecology And Conservation, University Of Florida, Warm Climate, Wildlife Managers, Wildlife Trade

Silent threat to city trees gets scientific solution

by Lourdes Mederos
July 21, 2025

What if one of the biggest threats to your city’s tree canopy isn’t just hurricanes — but also termites? A five-year partnership between the city of Fort Lauderdale and University of Florida scientists has uncovered a costly termite ... READ MORE

Category: Conservation, Natural Resources, Pests & Disease, SFYL Hot Topic, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension, UF/IFAS Research, Work & Life
Tags: Alvin Brown, Asian Subterranean Termite, City Of Fort Lauderdale, City Of Fort Lauderdale Parks And Recreation Department, Entomology And Nematology, Formosan Subterranean Termite, Gumbo Limbo, Institute Of Food And Agricultural Sciences, Invasive Pests, Invasive Species, Journal Of Economic Entomology, News, Research, Termites, Thomas Chouvenc, Trees, UF-IFAS

July Plant Clinic in Fort Walton Beach this Friday

by llw5479
July 16, 2025

The July Plant Clinic will be held 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Friday, July 18 at the temporary UF/IFAS Extension Annex located at the Okaloosa Technical College (OTC) in Fort Walton Beach. The plant clinic is designed to provide a place and time ... READ MORE

Category: Events, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Home Landscapes, Lawn, Pests & Disease, Pests & Disease
Tags: Insect Identification, Plant Clinic, Plant Diagnostics, Soil Testing, Weed Identification

Student Spotlight: Saving Florida’s avocados- a potential biocontrol

by moniquescoggin
July 16, 2025

Marielle de Moraes Berto is a fourth year PhD candidate in Dr. Daniel Carrillo’s tropical fruit entomology lab at the UF/IFAS Tropical Research & Education Center (TREC). Marielle is a native of Piracicaba, Brazil where she studied Biological ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Fruits & Vegetables, Pests & Disease, Pests & Disease, UF/IFAS Research
Tags: Acarology, Avocados, Biological Control, Entomology, Tropical Fruits

Supervivencia de las Plantas: Comprendiendo el Rol del Agua, los Nutrientes y la Selección Inteligente de Plantas

by Jonael Bosques
July 15, 2025

¡Bienvenidos a la temporada de lluvias de verano en el condado de Hardee! Geográficamente, tu hogar se encuentra en una mezcla única de zonas ambientales con un clima subtropical diverso: veranos calurosos y húmedos con tormentas eléctricas ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Crops, Fruits & Vegetables, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, Lawn, Pests & Disease, Turf, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Agua, Botánica, Español, Extension, Fincas, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Hardee, Hispano, Jardines, Latino, Nutrientes, Plantas, Produccion, Sistemas De Riego, UF-IFAS

Una nueva investigación de UF revela el potencial nutricional y frescura poscosecha del maracuyá

by Luz Bahder
July 15, 2025

Creado por Brad Buck, especialista sénior en relaciones públicas para UF/IFAS. Con el maracuyá, también conocido según la región como fruta de la pasión, parcha, granadilla, chinola, pasiflora, calala, gulupa o curuba, se obtiene mucho ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Crops, Horticulture, Pests & Disease, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension, UF/IFAS Research
Tags: Antioxidantes, Aroma, Calala, Chinola, Ciencias Horticolas, Compuestos Naturales, Consumidores, Coshechas, Cultivo, Curuba, Español, Fibra, Fitomejoradores, Florida, Frescura, Frescura Poscosecha, Fruta, Fruta De La Pasion, Granadilla, Gulupa, Maracuyá Morado, Maracuyá Naranja, Metabolomica, Parcha, Pasiflora, Passiflora Edulis, Passiflora Ligularis, Raquel Miranda, Sabor, Spanish, Subtropical, Tie Liu, Tropical, UF-IFAS, Universidade Federal Do Ceará, University Of Florida Institute Of Food And Agricultural Sciences, Valor Nutricional, Variedades, Vitamina C, Yu Wang

Invasive Plants–Root Them Out, Quickly

by Jeff Wasielewski
July 14, 2025

A weed is any plant growing where you don’t want it to grow. An invasive is a weed that grows at a rapid rate, spreads easily, and crowds out desired or native plants in landscapes and natural areas. Native plants are plants that occur in ... READ MORE

Category: Agribusiness, Agriculture, , Crops, Farm Management, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Fruits & Vegetables, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, Pests & Disease, Pests & Disease, SFYL Hot Topic, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension

From itchy bites to asthma triggers: Why one scientist studies what’s bugging us

by Lourdes Mederos
July 14, 2025

From bed bugs in bedrooms and cockroaches in kitchens to the latest invasive pests spreading into new communities, the uninvited guests that sneak into our homes are more than just nuisances—they can be public health threats, economic ... READ MORE

Category: Crops, Disaster Preparation, Home Landscapes, Invasive Species, Pests & Disease, Pests & Disease, SFYL Hot Topic, UF/IFAS, UF/IFAS Extension, UF/IFAS Research, Work & Life
Tags: Allergenic Proteins, Allergens, Bd Bugs, Bites, Bugs, Cockroaches, Data-driven, Entomology, Extension Outreach, Fort Lauderdale Research And Education Center, Health Risk, Histamine, Homes, Households, Human Immune Response, Insects, Invasive Pests, Johnalyn Gordon, Lourdes Mederos, Pest-management Solutions, Pests, Species, Structural Pests, Threats, Tropical Climate, Urban Pests

July 2025 First Friday with Florida First Detector

by Morgan Pinkerton
July 14, 2025

Recap of July 2025 First Friday with Florida First Detector Oak trees play a vital role in our ecosystems, providing food, shelter, and beauty across the globe. In the United States, there are about 90 native oak species, with 24 found right ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Conservation, Crops, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Forests, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, Invasive Species, Natural Resources, Pests & Disease, Pests & Disease, UF/IFAS Extension, Wildlife
Tags: Biosecurity, Early Detection, Eradication, FFD24-25, FloridaFirstDetector, Oaks, Quarantine, SeminoleCountyAg

Subscribe For More Great Content