The Bugs Are Back

Houstonist has seen them: crawling around the bathroom, flitting through doors, hovering in the kitchen. And Houstonist has felt them: at dusk, after a rain, or mysteriously, in the middle of the afternoon. The bugs have returned in force, and we recommend you do something about them.

Educate: The Texas Bug Book: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is a top-notch tome, with up-close pictures and information on life cycles, habitats, economic importance, natural and organic control. The authors realize that not all bugs are bad, and not all methods of killing the bad ones are good for everybody else. Peppered between the pages are bug anecdotes by the coauthors, who between them share the titles of landscape architect, certified arborist, horticulturist, and practitioner of organic practices. A treat to leaf through, and certainly a provocative coffee table book.

Eliminate: Besides taking care of obvious drainage issues to get rid of bugs, Houstonist recommends *not* poisoning our fine city's drinking water with insecticides. Instead, consult with the folks at Nature's Pest Solutions, who use USDA National Organic Program Products. The company takes care of termites, mosquitoes and other pests. Houstonist finds that last category quite broad, but we are assuming Nature's Pest means the six-legged kind.

Celebrate: The renovated Cockrell Butterfly Center at the Houston Museum of Natural Science re-opens Friday, May 25th. All throughout Memorial Day Weekend is BUGStravaganza, a celebration for the reopening of of Museum's Brown Hall of Entomology. Expect to find a bug chef, bees and honey, roach races, a puppet show, "Stump the Entomologist," and other delights for the young, old and middle-aged.

Remunerate: Lordy, we never thought we'd see this. The Natural Science Museum is also offering cash for cockroaches: the live, healthy kind. Houstonist is too grossed out to think about it, but if you have extra bugs, you may be in luck. The new Insect Wing needs your help.