Posted on 04/25/2013 7:33:32 PM PDT by Daffynition
What sounds like an April Fools’ Day prank was actually intentional -- the Mall of America celebrated Earth Day on Monday by voluntarily releasing 72,000 ladybugs into its indoor shopping facility.
The ladybugs were released in the Minneapolis mall in an effort to protect the large amounts of the mall's greenery, which are usually plagued by aphids.
Mall of America Senior Manager of Environmental Services Lydell Newby told Kare 11 that the bugs take the place of commonly used pesticides to control pests that would otherwise eat away at the mall's tropical plants.
(Excerpt) Read more at ibtimes.com ...
Meh, its just ladybugs.
I got no issues with it.
I love ladybugs.
Ours got “displaced” by those weird Asian ladybug imposters that bite.
Pretty nasty when they bite though.
Where’s PETA? This is obvious insect abuse.
This seems to be a logical, intelligent, and cost saving solution to the problem. Some liberal will probably find a way to ruin it.
Native ladybugs don’t bite. Its the illegal alien bugs that bite.
I just wonder what the unintended consequences will be... Like clogged air vents, etc.
There are always unintended consequences. Some are truly funny, some are destructive. Occasionally, they are both.
Don't piss them off.
Are they paid full union wages and bennies....
I get those nasty orange ones in my house occasionally. My cat tries to eat them but I won’t let her. I throw them out.
Shouldn’t these bugs be renamed to be more gender neutral?
I was out mushrooming in the woods one warm spring day when I came upon mounded heaps of of ladybugs, so I scooped them up into a 5 gallon bucket (and it was full) and took them home and sprinkled them over my roses, yard and garden.
It was 3 years before I saw aphids on the roses again. Those ladybugs really did a number on the local population of aphids.
They will regret this. Stupid.
Screw “Earth Day”. Commie day more like it.
Get some lacewings in there, too!
My grandmother used to buy them to keep aphids out of her roses and raspberries.
Have you ever been infested by ladybugs?
My uncle’s home is every late winter/spring. It’s unbelievable. Plagues. Like the window scenes in Amityville Horror.
They may help aphids but indoors, they will start overwhelming certain things, and dying all over the place, to boot.
Ants farm aphids. They attack anything that threatens their livestock. I bought ladybugs only to see the ants kill them before they ever had a chance to kill aphids.
All good, until they end up clogging up the ventilation fans/filters. I’m sure all of those ladybugs will attract a lot of birds and other predatory varmints to further infest the mall.
(insert gratuitous Jurassic Park and WKRP turkey drop hubris reference quotes.)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.