Rare Lady Beetles Prefer Traditional Diet

Experts from South Dakota State University and the nearby North Central Agricultural Research Laboratory watched helplessly as a colony of rare, captive lady beetles was lost in 2008, then teetered on the edge of disaster again in 2009.

"It was pretty gloomy," SDSU Extension Entomologist Mike Catangui said. "We were actually on the brink of losing the entire colony for the second time." But late in 2009, entomologists figured out what was wrong

"To begin with, we had to tinker around with diet. We hadn't seen them for years, so we didn't know what they were feeding on in the wild," Beckendorf said. "We started getting a grasp on different diets that worked better for them and all of a sudden they took off."

The decline of some species of lady beetles started in the eastern United States and is a nationwide problem -- hence the need for the Lost Ladybug Project.  People can learn more about the Lost Ladybug Project at its Web site, http://www.lostladybug.org

source: ScienceDaily (June 11, 2010)

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