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The story behind the Bug Scout cartoon

The model who inspired Bug Scout became a world-class entomologist.

Tom J. Bechman, Midwest Crops Editor

December 22, 2023

3 Min Read
 1970s photo of John Mumford dressed like an entomologist in a cornfield
MEET BUG SCOUT: John Mumford donned this get-up for photos that became part of a slide set about pest management shown at farmer meetings in the 1970s. Courtesy of Tom Turpin

Thumb through issues of Indiana Prairie Farmer from the late 1970s and 1980s and you will find Bug Scout, a cartoon featuring a stereotypical entomologist. The goofy character and his message were popular with readers.

“There’s a human-interest story behind Bug Scout,” says Tom Turpin, retired Purdue Extension entomologist. “Pest scouting and Integrated Pest Management was used in California and for cotton, but not in the Midwest. To introduce it to farmers, we needed a hook to get them interested.”

Birth of Bug Scout

Turpin and his cohorts took pictures of crop scouting and used the slide set at winter meetings. To make it humorous, they dressed John Mumford as Bug Scout. Mumford was an undergraduate student in entomology working in the department.

“Pretty soon, we got the idea for a cartoon character,” Turpin recalls. “Another student was a good artist. John was her model for Bug Scout.”

With a cartoon and short story in hand, Turpin approached Indiana Prairie Farmer. A bit skeptical, the magazine staff agreed to try it.

“One day Tom Budd, the editor, called me,” Turpin says, chuckling. “They wanted it every month! As it turned out, the first cartoon ran in a readership study issue and was the second most-read story.”

Epilogue

After several successful years, Bug Scout took retirement. Years later, it was revived temporarily as the Best of Bug Scout.

“The artist moved West, and it became harder to keep it going,” Turpin recalls. There was no internet then.

“The concept of scouting and Integrated Pest Management still makes sense,” he insists. “Pests are different, because unless you raise non-GMO corn, corn borer isn’t a threat. But with fungicides, for example, you don’t want to sacrifice yield to disease. But why spray fungicides if there is no disease present?

“Bug Scout had it right. You don’t know what is out there if you don’t go look!”

Courtesy of Tom Turpin -  A black and white cartoon drawing of Bug Scout

Who was John Mumford?

“John went on to have a distinguished international career as an entomologist,” Turpin explains. “Whenever he accepted an award, he loved to say, ‘I got my start in entomology as a model for a cartoon character.’”

Mumford, who grew up in Australia, came to the U.S. with family and entered Purdue in 1970. After Purdue, he earned a doctorate in applied entomology at Imperial College London in 1978. Staying in England, his career took him around the world, eventually doing pest assessments and strategic planning for numerous groups, including UN agencies. He worked with the World Health Organization and even the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Mumford received the John V. Osmun Alumni Professional Award in Entomology at Purdue in 2006 and was also recognized as a Purdue Distinguished Alumni. He died in December 2022. His life was celebrated at a ceremony in Indiana in 2023.

About the Author

Tom J. Bechman

Midwest Crops Editor, Farm Progress

Tom J. Bechman became the Midwest Crops editor at Farm Progress in 2024 after serving as editor of Indiana Prairie Farmer for 23 years. He joined Farm Progress in 1981 as a field editor, first writing stories to help farmers adjust to a difficult harvest after a tough weather year. His goal today is the same — writing stories that help farmers adjust to a changing environment in a profitable manner.

Bechman knows about Indiana agriculture because he grew up on a small dairy farm and worked with young farmers as a vocational agriculture teacher and FFA advisor before joining Farm Progress. He works closely with Purdue University specialists, Indiana Farm Bureau and commodity groups to cover cutting-edge issues affecting farmers. He specializes in writing crop stories with a focus on obtaining the highest and most economical yields possible.

Tom and his wife, Carla, have four children: Allison, Ashley, Daniel and Kayla, plus eight grandchildren. They raise produce for the food pantry and house 4-H animals for the grandkids on their small acreage near Franklin, Ind.

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