Help Desk

The Statewide IPM Program cannot provide individual answers or solutions to specific pest problems. For further information about a pest, please see Manage Pests or contact your local Cooperative Extension office for assistance. You may also search the IPM Web site by a keyword.

Some documents on this Web site are in Portable Document Format (PDF), a universal file format that preserves the look, including fonts and graphics, of a source document. You will need a PDF reader, such as Adobe Reader 5.0 or higher, to view or print these PDFs. If this software is not installed on your computer, you can download a free copy of the latest version.

To search for documents in the UC Statewide IPM Program Web site, press the search button on any page. Then type a keyword or a phrase in the search box. Click on "Search" to begin your search. The search engine will retrieve a list of all UC IPM Web pages relating to your topic, with the most relevant at the top. See the technical requirements that might prevent access to the search capability.

Tips for More Effective Searches

Text Case. The search engine is not case-senstiive. A search in all caps or all lower case will return the search phrase or word, regardless of case.

Singular Word. Use the singular form to find both singular and plural topics. Example: type mosquito and you also will get references to mosquitoes.

Wildcard Symbol (Asterisk). If you are unsure of the correct spelling, or if you want to retrieve all forms of the word (including plural), type * (wildcard symbol), after a portion of the word (at least three letters). For example, typing eucal* will yield all references to eucalyptus. Typing parasi* will result in a list including parasite, parasitic, parasites, parasitosis, and others.
Note: You cannot begin a search with a wildcard. Typing *grass will yield a non-valid search result.

Quoted Text. To find an exact reference, insert double quotes around your entry. Example: "eucalyptus redgum lerp psyllid". Note: Wildcards are not allowed in quoted text.

Use advanced search to customize your search. For example, for Boolean searches, you create specific relationships among keywords or phrases by using brackets and other commands: OR, NOT, AND, and NEAR.

Search in:

• Pest info for home and garden—includes Pest Notes, Quick Tips, and all related home, garden and landscape pages.
• Ag pest management guidelines—Includes PMGs, Pest Notes, weed photo gallery, and natural enemies photo gallery.
• Any pages—Includes all pages on the UC IPM Web site.

Search method:

• Exact—Uses the exact word or phrase you enter to search on. You may also surround text strings with double quotation marks to search on exact phrases, such as "western tentiform leafminer".
• Fuzzy—Uses inexact methods to find search words or phrases. Will find some synonyms and word endings to legal words. This method tends to return more results but with some unexepected results.
• Spelling—A simple fuzzy algorithm that tries to find one-off spelling mistakes, such as transposition of two letters or an extra character.

Match:

• Any words—Searches for any of the words provided.
• All words—Searches for all words provided.
• Boolean—Use operators like OR, NOT, AND, and NEAR. You can combine your search words using these operators. Use parentheses (nesting) to further refine your search by creating sets. For example, a search for (A or B) and (C or D) finds all pages that contain either A or B AND either C or D. Double quotation marks to search on exact phrases are also valid.

Format:

• Detail—Reports the web page title with associated content from the page, the url, and the page size.
• Brief—Reports the web page title only.

Sort by:

• Score—By search relevance (best score appearing first in the list).
• Alpha—By alphabetical order.
• Reverse score—By reverse search relevance (worst score appears first in the list).
• Reverse alpha—By reverse alphabetical order.

Technical note: If the search engine doesn't appear to be working (you get no results or no response from the search engine), it's very possible your firewall or router is preventing you from accessing our search engine. Please contact your network administrator to assist you with configuring your firewall. For more information, see our technical requirements.

For best viewing:
Width. Tables, graphics, and text will be displayed at their best if you adjust the width of your browser's window to the width of the Statewide IPM Program banner at the top of the page.

Font. Set your browser's proportional (or equivalent) font to Times 12 and the fixed (or equivalent) font to Courier 10.

Photographs. Our photographs look best on monitors with video options that allow thousands of colors to be displayed.

You may not need to submit database requests if you need summary reports by commodity, chemical, county, or month. See the View Reports option.

You cannot currently produce custom reports from a Lynx browser, a text browser for users on UNIX and VMS platforms.

To retrieve pesticide use data:

1. Select a time period.
2. Select a county or counties.
3. Select a site category.
4. Choose whether to select by site/pesticide or pesticide/site.
5. Select one or more sites, then select one or more pesticides. Or, select one or more pesticides, then one or more sites (as chosen in step 4).
6. Enter your e-mail address.
7. Select output type (standard report or customized report), and if customized, be sure to indicate all necessary options.
8. Click on "retrieve data."

To download your report or data file:

When you request data, your request is submitted to the UC IPM computer for processing, a procedure that may take from seconds to hours to complete, depending on the size of your request. When your report is available, you will be notified via e-mail.

Your files will be retained for seven days from date of completion, then deleted.

All retrieval files are compressed and require a decompression application on your system to decompress them. Examples of decompression applications: PKZip (Windows), WinZip (Windows), and ZipIt (Macintosh).

The files have the filename extension ".zip" and are named in the format "DD-hh:mm:ss" (DD=day of month, and hh:mm:Ss=hour/minute/seconds).

1. Use your Web browser to link to /PUSE/puse1.html.
2. On that Web page, enter your e-mail address in Step 4 and click on "submit."
3. Your Output Retrieval Mailbox is shown listing filenames of available files.
4. Download a decompression application if you do not have one on your system.
5. Download your files in one of three ways:
   • Before downloading your data or report file, set up your browser's helper applications to associate the "Zip" file extension with the decompression application. Then, click on a filename on the Output Retrieval Mailbox page to download and decompress the file.
   • Click on a filename on the Output Retrieval Mailbox page, then specify a decompression application to decompress it.
   • Click on a filename on the Output Retrieval Mailbox page and save the file. Then, start a decompression application and open the file to decompress it.

To view your report file:

• Use a text file viewing application, such as DOS EDIT or Windows NOTEPAD.
• Use a word processing application and change the font to a non-proportional font, such as Monaco or Courier.

For information about the contents of the database, see:
About the Reports
Overview of Database
Terminology
Variables
Interpreting Summaries

Retrieval of all weather data on this Web site is combined into one central process. You can retrieve daily and hourly data from current stations throughout California, plus long-term (30-year) data for all climate stations. Specify the station or network, type of information you seek, range of dates, variables, ouput format, and data units. PestCast research networks, incorporated into the central weather database in July 2002, provide hourly and daily values from selected locations.

To retrieve weather data:

1. Select a county or network from the pulldown lists or enter a station name in the station box. If you seek current data, be sure the box, "active stations only," is checked. Otherwise, your list will show all stations in the county, including inactive ones.
2. Select a weather station and the desired information: daily or hourly data, averages, or station description.
3. Select your variables and then backup stations for any missing data. Backup stations are nearby stations that can be used to fill in data gaps for specific variables. If data is still unavailable, the long-term averages for the data will be used.
4. Select data units and output file format. Select either English or metric data units and then one of four output file formats:
   • Formatted report: Includes information about your selected station, provides data in a table with column headings, and shows source of any data supplied by backup or long-term average stations.
   • UC IPM data file: Supplies a text file for input to one of three UC IPM programs: DDU, TRAP, or CALEX.
   • Comma-delimited file (compressed): Displays a text file of data, with values separated by commas, for use with spreadsheets. This format has few or no empty columns.
   • Comma-delimited file (fixed field): Displays a fixed format for ready integration of data from different stations or retrievals.
5. Click on "RETRIEVE DATA" button to complete the process and view the report.

NOTE: If you retrieve data regularly, you can reuse your specifications. Use the "Save as" (or equivalent) command in your browser and save the document, with default settings, as "source." Give the request a unique filename and a filename extension of .html or .htm. For example, DAVIS.A.html
To submit the request again, use the "Open file" (or equivalent) command in your browser, make necessary changes to dates, and click on "RETRIEVE DATA."

For more information on retrieving weather data, see:
About the weather database
Retrieving weather data
Reports from the database

Degree-day model users can run preset models that have been recommended by UC Cooperative Extension, or you can specify the thresholds and method of calculation for any model. Weather data for the calculations may come from our weather database, a file you supply, or data you enter online.

To calculate degree-days using data from a UC IPM California Weather Database station:

1. Select an organism and preset thresholds OR specify thresholds and method of calculation.
2. Select a county.
3. Select a weather station.
4. Select a time period.
5. Select temperature variable and backup stations.
6. Select output file format and units.

To calculate degree-days using your own data file:

1. Specify source of temperature data: data from your file.
2. Select an organism and preset thresholds OR select thresholds and method of calculation.
3. Specify temperature units in file.
4. Specify data delimiter in file.
5. Specify position of data values in file records.
6. Select output file format and units.

To calculate degree-days using data you enter online:

1. Specify source of temperature data: data you enter online.
2. Select an organism and preset thresholds OR select thresholds and method of calculation.
3. Specify temperature units in file.
4. Select output file format and units.

For more information, see:
About degree-days and phenology models
About the weather database

You can search the research projects database, containing both UC IPM Competitive Research Grants and Exotic Pests and Diseases projects, by host, pest, discipline, funding years, and principal investigator. Objectives, and in many cases, a summary of results or progress, are provided with the project descriptions.

Simple Search

1. Enter one or more keywords in the text box.
2. Click on the "search database" button next to the text box to link to the list of research project titles that contain the keyword(s).
3. Click on your desired title to view the project description.

Specific Variable Search

• Option One—Typing Keywords
  
  1. Set one or more search criteria by typing the name of the host (such as cotton, sheep, or roses), pest (such as ants, spider mites, or flies), etc. in the appropriate text box.
  2. For the year(s) funded leave the default values, or if you know the specific year(s), use the pulldown menus to select the desired range.
  3. For the research program, leave it as "all," or select a grants program from the pulldown menu.
  4. Click on the "search database" button below the variables to link to the list of research project titles that meet the criteria.
  5. Click on your desired title to view the project description.
• Option Two—Selecting Keywords from Lists
  
  1. Click on "lists" to get specific hosts, pests, disciplines, and principal investigators contained in the database.
  2. From the lists, click on one or more topics, such as "cotton" under "hosts" or "entomology" under "disciplines." Service
  3. You will be returned to the research database page and your selection(s) will be automatically inserted in the appropriate text box(es).
  4. Click on the "search database" button below the variables to link to the list of research project titles that meet the criteria.
  5. Click on your desired title to view the project description.
• Notes:
  • You may use a combination of typing keywords and selecting from lists.
  • When more than one variable is set, the search will look for projects that meet all criteria.
  • To exclude a specific host, pest, discipline, or principal investigator, specify "does not contain" from the pulldown menu.

For more information, see:
About the research projects database
Other UC IPM research programs

For information on UC Davis computing resources, such as hardware solutions, modem selection, and Wireless LAN Connectivity, see:
Information and Educational Technology's Recommended Solutions.

In order to function correctly, UC IPM Web site services (such as the search engine and downloadable data images) require access to key network communication ports. These ports must be open and accessible for the UC IPM services to work correctly.

Your Internet service provider or any intervening network control equipment (e.g., home or office routers or firewalls) between your computer and UC IPM will determine which ports are open or closed. If you are not able to use a service on the UC IPM Web site, then you will need to negotiate access to that service by contacting your network provider, your network administrator, or by adjusting your router or firewall to allow access to these key ports.

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