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Article: A BUG FOR LADYBIRDS : PEST-EATING BEETLES LURE COLLECTORS.(NEWS)
- Article from:
- Daily News (Los Angeles, CA)
- Article date:
- July 14, 1996
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 Daily News. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Carlos Alcala The Sacramento Bee
Red and black and hopelessly cute, the ladybug is the focus of one of the most curious and secretive professions in California.
Up and down the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, ladybug collectors are looking over their shoulders as they root through leaf and pine litter, scooping up huge clusters of the beloved beetles from May to January.
Most home gardeners know why the beetles, called ladybirds in some regions and ladybugs in most, are gathered. The bugs wind up in nurseries, sold in small bags to be released on roses and squash plants to eat aphids and other pests.
But few know where they ...