top of page

March 2025
The Bug Man

THE NEW BUG MAN: Watch Out For Thrips parvispinus In San Diego County
By Eric Middleton PhD, IPM Advisor, University of California Statewide IPM Program and Cooperative Extension, San Diego, Orange, and Los...
Feb 28


THE BUG MAN: A New Eucalyptus Beetle In San Diego County
By Eric Middleton PhD, IPM Advisor, University of California Statewide IPM Program and Cooperative Extension, San Diego, Orange, and Los...
Sep 1, 2024


THE BUG MAN: Agave Mites - An Invisible Enemy
By Eric Middleton PhD, IPM Advisor, University of California Statewide IPM Program and Cooperative Extension, San Diego, Orange, and Los...
Mar 1, 2024


THE NEW BUG MAN: Green Fruit Beetles - A Sign Of SD Summer & Early Fall
By Eric Middleton, UC Cooperative Extension IPM Advisor, for Let’s Talk Plants! October 2023. Editor’s note: Please welcome Eric...
Oct 1, 2023


THE BUG MAN: Earwigs
By James A. Bethke, for Let’s Talk Plants! July 2022. Figure 1. The European earwig, Forficula auricularia L. Photo from Pixabay.com....
Jul 1, 2022


THE BUG MAN: Soft Scales
By James A. Bethke, for Let’s Talk Plants! May 2022. Soft scale insects can be quite a pest in the landscape and garden in southern...
May 1, 2022

THE BUG MAN: Sooty Mold
Sooty Mold By James A. Bethke, for Let's Talk Plants! March 2022. I gave a presentation a few years back at a community center, which was...
Mar 1, 2022


THE BUG MAN: Serpentine Leafminers
By James A. Bethke, for Let's Talk Plants! November 2021. My first job in the University of California Riverside (UCR) Department of...
Nov 1, 2021

THE BUG MAN: The Glassy-winged Sharpshooter
By James A. Bethke. The glassy-winged sharpshooter (GWSS), Homalodisca vitripennis (Figure 1), is an insect that was inadvertently...
Jul 1, 2021


THE BUG MAN: What are Ambrosia Beetles?
Ambrosia beetles are a group of beetles in the bark beetle family, Scolytidae. However, there is some argument by taxonomists that the group
Apr 1, 2021


THE BUG MAN: Mosquito Eaters
Every spring I get calls and emails from people about the great mosquito eaters that are showing up at their lights, windows and doors at ni
Feb 1, 2021


THE BUG MAN: What is a Piercing Sucking Insect?
In the last article (you can read it here), I mentioned that true bugs have piercing sucking mouth parts. I thought it would be a good idea
Dec 1, 2020

THE BUG MAN: One Bug, Two Bug, Red Bug, Blue Bug
In the fall, a common call I receive from friends and neighbors concerns masses of bright red bugs on trees, shed walls or front porches. I’
Oct 1, 2020


THE BUG MAN: Born Pregnant - Aphids
Many of the insecticide trials that I performed at the University of California Riverside were against aphids, which are one of the most com
Jun 1, 2020

THE BUG MAN: Jumping Spiders - One of the Good Guys
When I was a teenager, I collected a whole bunch of very small jumping spiders into small, clear, plastic containers and watched them for ho
Apr 1, 2020


THE BUG MAN: Common True Katydid.
While working to fix an irrigation line in my yard I noticed that one of my window screens was slightly damaged. Upon closer inspection, I n
Jan 1, 2020


THE BUG MAN: No Way! Blue Centipedes?
For all my life I knew an awful lot about bugs and other creepy crawlies, so I was confident when a Master Gardener said she had blue centip
Oct 1, 2019


The Formidable, and Misnamed, Potato Bug
This is the first in a series of articles about the insect creatures in our gardens from entomologist James Bethke, well-known for his...
Aug 23, 2019


THE BUG MAN: The Formidable, and Misnamed, Potato Bug
By James A. Bethke. This is the first in a series of articles about the insect creatures in our gardens from entomologist James Bethke,...
Jul 7, 2019
bottom of page