Richard 'Bugman' Jones FRES is a British entomologist. He is a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society and has written many books about insects. [1]
Jones's childhood interest in insects was inspired by his father, who was a botanist. He grew up in the South Downs and the Sussex Weald [2] and was educated at Newhaven Tideway Comprehensive School (now Seahaven Academy) in the early 1970s. [3] At university he studied biology and he then worked as an engineer's assistant on the Lewes Cuilfail Tunnel, [4] and in medical publishing, before moving back into entomology, [5] doing ecological surveys for local councils and English Nature (now Natural England). [6]
He regularly writes for New Scientist, [7] Gardeners' World [8] and BBC Wildlife, [9] as well as appearing on programmes such as Springwatch Unsprung, [10] BBC Radio 4's Home Planet [11] and Natural Histories with Brett Westwood, including the episodes "Louse" [12] and "Dung Beetle". [13]
Jones is a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society and of the Linnean Society. He is a past president of the British Entomological and Natural History Society. [24]
Call of Nature was shortlisted for The Bookseller's Diagram Prize for the oddest book title of the year in 2018. [25]