Hey, Bug Doctor!

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?