72K Ladybugs Released In Mall On Purpose

72K Ladybugs Released In Mall On Purpose (photo courtesy Gilles San Martin from Namur, Belgium)

72K ladybugs released in mall to take care of pest problem

The Mall of America, located in Blommington, Minn., became the home of 72,000 ladybugs after mall management released, the often thought of as cute, insects into the indoor shopping complex, reports Discovery News.

Besides the mall’s new ladybug residents, it is also the home for 30,000 live plants. The trees inside the huge mall are used as natural air purifiers.

The ladybugs were released to take care of the aphids problem. Aphids are pests that do major damage to plants and are known as enemy number one to farmers and gardeners. There are no farmers in the mall, but the aphids problem does exist. Ladybugs, who are a natural enemy of aphids, will act as an alternative to normal pesticides. As an indoor mall, the ladybugs will have a positive affect on keeping the aphids under control. In an outdoor setting, the results would be different, and the ladybugs would most likely disperse.

“Ladybugs are what I like to call, sort of a biological defense system,” Lydell Newby, the Mall of America’s senior manager of environmental services, told local news station KARE 11.

Some shoppers of the mall have shown concern over the issue. They are concerned that the ladybugs might land on their food while they are eating. This is very unlikely, as ladybugs do not go after human food. They instead, like to spend the majority of their lives on plants.

“We’ve been doing this for years,” the spokesperson said. “No ladybug takeover yet. Chances are, you’ve visited the mall during this short period and have never noticed them. They are completely harmless.”

The Mall of America is one of the largest indoor malls in the Unites States that houses over 30,000 live plants and over 400 trees.

On The Web:

72,000 Ladybugs Released in Mall of America
http://news.discovery.com/animals/insects/72000-ladybugs-released-in-mall-of-america-130424.htm

72,000 Ladybugs Released Inside Mall of America On Earth Day In Place Of Pesticides [PHOTO]
http://www.ibtimes.com/72000-ladybugs-released-inside-mall-america-earth-day-place-pesticides-photo-1212811