Texas Bug Book: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly | 
| Authors: Howard Garrett, C. Malcolm Beck
Creator: Gwen E. Gage
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Category: Book
List Price: $29.95
Buy New: $18.77
You Save: $11.18 (37%)
New (12) Used (6) from $18.77
Avg. Customer Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 338698
Media: Paperback
Edition: Revised
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 214
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2
Dimensions (in): 11 x 8.5 x 0.6
ISBN: 0292709374
Dewey Decimal Number: 632.709764
EAN: 9780292709379
ASIN: 0292709374
Publication Date: September 1, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: SHIPS from 5 locations based on your Zip Code and availability! (PA TN IN OR SC) *-* Gift Quality *-* Orders Processed Immediately! - We get your book to you Very Quickly! -L2353.3321
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Product Description
Praise for Texas Bug Book: "Definitive ...This book is a must-have for any organic library!" —Texas Organic News "Overall this [book] is probably the best of its kind. Given the excellent photography and affordability, it is definitely worth the purchase." —Whole Earth "Texas Bug Book, unlike many of the characters it describes, is a keeper—highly recommended as a perfect companion volume to set beside your native plant books." —Native Plant Society of Texas News "If you plan on ever stepping outside, or staying inside, or going to bed, Texas Bug Book is a wealth of information you can't possibly live without." —Austin American-Statesman "This book is recommended essentially to all humans above the age of three. It conveys a wonderful message about our ecology and hope for living within our environment." —Choice
Texas Bug Book is your complete guide for identifying and organically controlling all of the most common Texas insects. Drawing on years of practical experience and research, organic gardening experts Howard Garrett and Malcolm Beck give detailed instructions on how to identify, understand the life cycle of, and control or protect Texas insects, mites, snails, slugs, nematodes, and other critters. They also include striking color photos and black-and-white drawings to help you identify each bug. Garrett and Beck highlight the many useful roles that bugs play in nature and offer proven organic remedies for infestations of pest insects.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
 If I had only 1 "bug" book, this would be it. October 23, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
While this book includes common arachnids that are not truly "bugs" along with the insects, it is the one book I would want to have if I could have only one for use by non-scientists. It is engaging, good science that is written and illustrated in a way that the layman can understand, use and enjoy. A key strength, in my opinion, is that color illustrations are included on the same page as the text, making it easy to identify and associate a particular type of insect with a discussion of it. A second strength is that the multiple common names of Texas insects are included and indexed, which makes the book very easy to use.
The authors focus heavily on a completely organic approach to Texas wildlife and gardening, with a substantial amount of information about organic methods of pest management. This may be useful to the reader; however, for the reader not ready to go organic, this information does not in any way detract from the value of the book as an extremely useful guide to Texas insects.
Love it and use it August 14, 2006
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
I've been an organic gardener for years and this book is one of my "Bibles". You cannot maintain an organic garden or landscape without knowing the beneficial bugs from the harmful ones. My husband and I really enjoy being able to identify what's in our landscape and seeing them in action. The world around us is a remarkable, complex place and sometimes you have to look at bugs to have it really hit home. This is a great book, along with all of Howard Garrett's others.
Great Bug Reference Book! April 13, 2005
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
It is important to know what bugs are beneficial and which are harmful. This book does just that! Not only does this book include many great photos, it also provides wonderful recommendations on how to manage the ones that are pests.
As for the only spiders one should be weary of in North America: the Brown Recluse and the Black Widow, this book has great photos for proper identification. Furthermore, valuable information is included on the nature of these two spiders and has great suggestions on what to do should you happen to encounter one.
 Worthless Reference Book October 1, 2003
10 out of 26 found this review helpful
My wife and I agree this book is worthless as a reference book, but it does have some pretty pictures. Great as a coffee table book, but you will never use it as a reference book.
Not worthy of the trees that had to die. May 3, 2003
21 out of 42 found this review helpful
This behemothian piece of excrement is a slap in the face of any ligitimate work on insects in general, or growing organic gardens specifically. The book is fraught with inaccuracies and outright misinformation. Case in point, the kissing bug did not get its name from biting people when it accidently flies into your face, it got it from its habit of biting sleeping people on the lips. This information is not critical to the book, but it exemplifies the slothful approach to gathering information the authors obviously used to write this book. The "Stories" are nothing more than opinionted drivel, although some of them are slightly humorous. The authors have no credentials in Entomology (they state that in the Introduction) and although they claim to have consulted "...many other books and research papers..." on the subject, nowhere did I find a reference to such information when something other than common fact was stated (as is necessary in REAL science books), such as aphids "...help to eliminate unfit plants." That is the single most ludicrous thing I have heard in a decade or more! Fortunately for me I didn't buy this waste of sawdust or recycled paper (whatever the case may be), but obviously some did because this "thing" is now in its fourth printing. The one good thing about this book is that the authors advocate the use non-chemical control. Believe me, save your money, you can get much better, less opinionated, advice from a simple Internet search.
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