Ladybugs (Coccinellidae) can do the work that nasty chemicals used to. Researchers in Japan have discovered a way to selectively breed flightless ladybugs to be used as a "biopesticide" - a natural alternative to chemical pesticides.
Ladybugs have long been considered natural pest-control for gardens and crops, but their ability to fly away encouraged many agriculturalists to instead rely on chemical pesticides that are harmful to the environment. After several generations of being exposed to chemicals, many pests have also been known to develop pesticide resistance.
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Japanese Farmers Just Got a New Pesticide: The Flightless Ladybug
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(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 14 2014, @07:26PM
You can actually order ladybugs by the thousands from Amazon for relatively cheap.
Its great for pest control in your garden and also kind of cool for little kids. You generally want to make sure that you get "real" ladybugs rather than the "asian ladybug" because the asian ones are much less colorful and will bite people.
Here's an example, I don't know if they are asian or american ones:
http://www.amazon.com/1500-Live-Ladybugs-Guaranteed-Delivery/dp/B00533KOIC [amazon.com]
(Score: 3) by bob_super on Thursday August 14 2014, @07:37PM
The problem is that they are too efficient, eat all the bugs, and then fly away to find more food elsewhere.
The advantage of the new flightless ones is that they will either starve to death (keeps the nice color touches in the garden, an attracts new bugs), or get eaten by some very very happy birds.
(Score: 2) by SlimmPickens on Thursday August 14 2014, @07:57PM
it does seem a bit cruel
(Score: 2) by hamsterdan on Thursday August 14 2014, @08:16PM
Why is it a problem? 3 weeks ago I started to get Aphids on my balcony, ladybugs came, now I have ladybug larvae having an all-you-can-eat buffet with the Aphids. They will turn into Ladybugs and go eat somewhere else.
I really don't see the problem, only nature acting like it was designed to.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by bob_super on Thursday August 14 2014, @08:21PM
From TFS "but their ability to fly away encouraged many agriculturalists to instead rely on chemical pesticides".
Killing all the bugs on my plants once every now and then is fine for me, because I don't make a living out of the crop yields.
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Thursday August 14 2014, @10:06PM
So repeated buying of chemicals is OK, but repeated buying of ladybugs is not? Why?
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday August 14 2014, @10:16PM
They clog the spreaders' pipes?
I'd venture a guess that farmers prefer to go Saddam on anything that moves, rather than trust the little buggers to spread correctly, stay in place more than five minutes, not attract bugs, and actually have a taste for every threat.
If you have to spread again for something else (fungus? caterpillar?), it doesn't stack very well with the ladybug protection.
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Friday August 15 2014, @08:24AM
Easy! No intellectual property in ladybugs! (Unless. . . hmmm, ladybugs with lasers on their heads? Very small lasers? But then we would want them to fly.)
(Score: 2) by SlimmPickens on Thursday August 14 2014, @10:53PM
Apologies, I didn't mean that you shouldn't buy Ladybugs, I meant more the article ones that can't fly and are condemned to either starving or being eaten (which I'm sure is unpleasant). I don't consider it a major problem but nor do I consider it best practice.
(Score: 2) by nightsky30 on Friday August 15 2014, @12:02PM
You can buy a flashmob of lady bugs for $5! That is so awesome!
(Score: 3, Funny) by forsythe on Thursday August 14 2014, @08:01PM
I don't see many ``This story is off-topic!'' posts around here, but just in case [lip6.fr] anyone is thinking of making one, ladybugs have had a significant positive impact on the Linux kernel.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 15 2014, @04:01AM
An Indian student has used the Coccinelle tool to squash 300 kernel bugs since May.
http://mrpogson.com/2014/08/13/who-is-himangi-saraogi/#gblock [mrpogson.com]
-- gewg_
(Score: 1) by richtopia on Thursday August 14 2014, @08:11PM
I seem to remember that lady bugs were just fine as a kid. Then, probably around 2002 in Michigan all of a sudden they started biting. I heard they were a different species from Japan. And they seemed to be everywhere when we were camping.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 14 2014, @08:20PM
I hate bugs, but I like bumble bees, dragonflies, and ladybugs.
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Friday August 15 2014, @04:17AM
"Ladybug, Ladybug, fly away home, your house is on fire, your children alone!" What do you mean, you can't fly? Think of the Children! What psychopathic evil mad genetic scientist came up with this idea?