Hey, Bug Doctor!

The Scoop on Insects in Georgia's Homes and Gardens

Title Details

Pages: 232

Illustrations: 84 color photos

Trim size: 6.000in x 8.000in

Formats

Paperback

Pub Date: 09/15/2006

ISBN: 9-780-8203-2804-1

List Price: $25.95

Hey, Bug Doctor!

The Scoop on Insects in Georgia's Homes and Gardens

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  • Description
  • Reviews

Bugs can sometimes really . . . bug you. On the flip side, they pollinate crops, provide food for birds and other wildlife, produce honey and other useful things, and serve as bellwether indicators of our environment's health. That's to say nothing of aesthetic worth. Iridescent dragonflies weaving patterns of light as they patrol a lakeshore, a ghostly luna moth drifting through the dusk-encounters like these enrich our lives enormously.

That's what Hey, Bug Doctor! is all about: appreciating that the difference between a pesky and a helpful bug often comes down to how, when, and where you find it. Few of us realize that better than entomologist Jim Howell, who is known to readers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution through his helpful, humorous columns on getting along with bugs. Gathered here are Howell's profiles of over sixty crawling and flying (and yes, biting and stinging) bugs commonly found in homes, gardens, and yards in Georgia and around the Southeast.

Each illustrated profile describes the bug's appearance, diet, behavior, and impact on the natural and built environments. Like Howell's widely read newspaper columns, the profiles offer unusual facts, popular myths, and stories of real-life encounters. A single square yard of your lawn or garden can contain hundreds, even thousands, of bugs. Here is proven, practical guidance on those beautiful, ugly, harmless, toxic, and ultimately amazing creatures with which you share your home and yard.

LAWN AND GARDEN INSECTSDoodlebugs: Part of Rural AmericanaFire Ants: A Double Whammy of PainLuna Moths: Charming Guests in Your GardenFireflies: Fairy Lanterns in the BackyardRELATIVESSpider Mites: Nasty in Hot, Dry WeatherGolden Garden Spiders: Welcome This Web Weaver to Feast in Your GardenChiggers: Ooooohhh, Those Itchy RedbugsTicks: Don't Get "Ticked" with Warm Spring WeatherHOUSEHOLD INSECTSBedbugs and Batbugs: Tiny Bedroom VampiresFruit Flies: Drunk on Their Own SuccessCockroaches: Will They Outlast Us All?Termites: Your Home Is Their Sunday BuffetRELATIVESDaddy-Longlegs: Alien Invaders?Dust Mites: Gesundheit!Common House Spiders: Messy But HarmlessBlack Widows and Brown Recluses: Are They Really Husband Killers and Loners?

Highly recommended for anyone interested in making their first acquaintance with 'bugs.' Entertainingly written and bound to enlighten.

—Thomas Eisner, author of For Love of Insects

Hey, Bug Doctor! is a useful and fascinating exploration of insects. It gives us new appreciation of the six- and eight-legged creatures that share our southern heritage. Jim combines his scientific training with his southern upbringing to write an engaging look at the insects (and a few other buglike creatures) that surround us. He’s been chewed by chiggers and feasted on by fleas, but Jim brings a sense of enthusiasm to each bug that bites him. Insects, whether good, bad or beautiful, all intrigue him.

—Walter Reeves, host of Georgia Public Television's Gardening in Georgia

An interesting read in short bits for gardeners and biologically inclined homeowners—and a useful reference for times when the bugs invade.

Augusta Magazine

The information provided is thorough without becoming stridently academic, and the guide would be a welcome companion for an afternoon of bug watching. . . . Howell's friendly tone and subtle sense of humor make this book a pleasant cover-to-cover read.

—Timothy Revis, Northeast Georgia Living

About the Author/Editor

JIM HOWELL writes a popular weekly column in the Home and Garden section of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. A widely published entomologist who worked at the University of Georgia for thirty years, Howell has served as an expert witness in a number of cases, including one involving spider bites on Georgia prison inmates. Send your questions about bugs to Jim at [email protected].