Hey, Bug Doctor!
The Scoop on Insects in Georgia's Homes and Gardens

Jim Howell
Jon Davies, Photo Editor

Meet your multilegged neighbors

Reviews

"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


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Description
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 INSECTS
  • Doodlebugs: Part of Rural Americana
  • Fire Ants: A Double Whammy of Pain
  • Luna Moths: Charming Guests in Your Garden
  • Fireflies: Fairy Lanterns in the Backyard
      RELATIVES
    • Spider Mites: Nasty in Hot, Dry Weather
    • Golden Garden Spiders: Welcome This Web Weaver to Feast in Your Garden
    • Chiggers: Ooooohhh, Those Itchy Redbugs
    • Ticks: Don't Get "Ticked" with Warm Spring Weather
    HOUSEHOLD INSECTS
  • Bedbugs and Batbugs: Tiny Bedroom Vampires
  • Fruit Flies: Drunk on Their Own Success
  • Cockroaches: Will They Outlast Us All?
  • Termites: Your Home Is Their Sunday Buffet
      RELATIVES
    • Daddy-Longlegs: Alien Invaders?
    • Dust Mites: Gesundheit!
    • Common House Spiders: Messy But Harmless
    • Black Widows and Brown Recluses: Are They Really Husband Killers and Loners?
Page count: 232 pp.
Illustrated
Trim size: 6 x 8

 



Paper
List price: $24.95
978-0-8203-2804-1
9/15/2006

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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 hey_bug_doctor@hotmail.com.