More than 1,000 ladybugs were released in the school's greenhouse recently and are ready to gobble up "bad bugs" feasting on plants.
According to Kathy Connell, WDC Greenhouse manager, the primary purpose of using ladybugs is they provide pest control. "They like to eat aphids," she said, which is a problem in the WDC Greenhouse right now. Aphids thrive in greenhouses because of the facility's warmth and humidity, which are ideal conditions for aphids.
Connell and students enjoyed watching as the swarm of ladybugs quickly moved from the box they were mailed in, to finding plants to feast on aphids. An adult ladybug can eat up to 5,000 aphids!
Riley Kasperson watches ladybugs find their new home on Swiss chard and other plants in the WDC Greenhouse where they will eat aphids.