STERLING - With their myriad of bright colors and small size, lady beetles may be the most beloved and easily recognizable members of the insect world, even being named the state insect of New York.
“They're small and they don't bite,” Jim D'Angelo, director of the Sterling Nature Center, said. “The bright red colors and the black dots, I think that just naturally draws people to them.”
The history of the lady beetle, from its more common name to its association with good luck had long been associated with folklore and myth dating at least as far back as the medieval period, but to some extent these myths are steeped in actual scientific fact.
“They were considered lucky,” D'Angelo said. “Long before pesticides and things like that, nature had to take care of itself. Lady beetles would eat aphids and other plant pests and help protect the crops. I think that is where the idea that they are good luck comes from, but even the name ‘lady bug' comes from a prayer. Farmers would pray to our lady of the beetle and it became lady beetle and eventually Americanized into lady bug.”
As part of the Sterling Nature Center's summer series, D'Angelo has been presenting lady beetles for three years. The project was initially the product of a study from the Cornell Institute of Technology.
“There was a group of students from Cornell,” D'Angelo said. “They were looking to use scientific methods to research and collect the different species of lady beetles that are in the area. From there we've just kept doing this with nets and just going out and searching with our eyes.”
D'Angelo said that this is the perfect kind of summertime project. “They really come out in the warm weather,” he said. “Once the weather is warm, they really thrive. Like a lot of insects they don't do much in the cold weather.
“And they are easy to spot with their bright colors and markings. They are everywhere and it is the kind of thing that everyone can get involved in and they are safe, they are the kind of bugs that no one minds looking for.”
D'Angelo said there are anywhere from 400 to 500 different species of lady beetle in North America, but only about 20 species that live in central New York.
“I haven't been able to find a lot of research on the topic,” he said. “I know in Canada there have been surveys to find out what has been happening and why certain species are in decline. Several species that were introduced into North America to help with crops have really seemed to thrive which has driven out other native species.”
D'Angelo said he would like to see this program grow and adapt from just the summer series into an early fall and spring program that he could get area schools and students involved in.
“It is a fun project,” he said. “It is very adaptable to schools and children of all ages and there is a lot we can do with it. We try to identify all the species we find and photograph all of them so we can identify the ones we didn't know later.
This has been really helpful keeping the record straight for what species live in the area. But I would really like to work on getting this out to schools and get more kids involved in what I think could be a really fun project.”
The history of the lady beetle, from its more common name to its association with good luck had long been associated with folklore and myth dating at least as far back as the medieval period, but to some extent these myths are steeped in actual scientific fact.
“They were considered lucky,” D'Angelo said. “Long before pesticides and things like that, nature had to take care of itself. Lady beetles would eat aphids and other plant pests and help protect the crops. I think that is where the idea that they are good luck comes from, but even the name ‘lady bug' comes from a prayer. Farmers would pray to our lady of the beetle and it became lady beetle and eventually Americanized into lady bug.”
As part of the Sterling Nature Center's summer series, D'Angelo has been presenting lady beetles for three years. The project was initially the product of a study from the Cornell Institute of Technology.
“There was a group of students from Cornell,” D'Angelo said. “They were looking to use scientific methods to research and collect the different species of lady beetles that are in the area. From there we've just kept doing this with nets and just going out and searching with our eyes.”
D'Angelo said that this is the perfect kind of summertime project. “They really come out in the warm weather,” he said. “Once the weather is warm, they really thrive. Like a lot of insects they don't do much in the cold weather.
“And they are easy to spot with their bright colors and markings. They are everywhere and it is the kind of thing that everyone can get involved in and they are safe, they are the kind of bugs that no one minds looking for.”
D'Angelo said there are anywhere from 400 to 500 different species of lady beetle in North America, but only about 20 species that live in central New York.
“I haven't been able to find a lot of research on the topic,” he said. “I know in Canada there have been surveys to find out what has been happening and why certain species are in decline. Several species that were introduced into North America to help with crops have really seemed to thrive which has driven out other native species.”
D'Angelo said he would like to see this program grow and adapt from just the summer series into an early fall and spring program that he could get area schools and students involved in.
“It is a fun project,” he said. “It is very adaptable to schools and children of all ages and there is a lot we can do with it. We try to identify all the species we find and photograph all of them so we can identify the ones we didn't know later.
This has been really helpful keeping the record straight for what species live in the area. But I would really like to work on getting this out to schools and get more kids involved in what I think could be a really fun project.”