Friday, April 20, 2012 - Exentsion Office Releasing Lady Bugs At Local Schools In Honor Of Earth Day

Local elementary school students will learn about the significance of Good Bugs vs. Bad Bugs and release thousands of beneficial lady beetles during the week of EARTH DAY!

Earth Day falls on Sunday, April 22, 2012. In recognition of this event, the University of Florida/IFAS St. Lucie County Cooperative Extension and the St. Lucie County Chapter of the Florida Master Naturalists will be conducting a series of educational programs designed to teach local elementary school students how to adopt the use of beneficial natural enemies such as lady beetles to combat some landscape insect pests. Thousands of lady beetles will be released in school landscapes as part of this effort.

Lady beetles are among the best known and most beneficial insects. There are about 475 species occurring in North America. Both the adults and larvae of lady beetles consume aphids, immature scale insects, mealybugs, mites and other nuisance landscape pests. Students will be handling these lady beetles as they are taught how to place them in the landscape to control these pests in their own schoolyards.

Below is a list of locations where these lady beetles will be released:

• Monday, April 23 at 4 p.m. - Treasure Coast Elementary School –Coordinated by Master Naturalist Susan Wright
• Wednesday, April 25 at 9 a.m. - St. Anastasia School – Coordinated by Extension Agents Ken Gioeli and Anita Neal
• Wednesday, April 25 at 1 p.m. - Floresta Elementary School - Coordinated by Extension Agents Ken Gioeli and Anita Neal
• Wednesday, April 25 at 4 p.m. - Treasure Coast Elementary School –Coordinated by Master Naturalist Susan Wright
• Thursday, April 26 at 1 p.m. - Rivers Edge Elementary School - Coordinated by Extension Agents Ken Gioeli and Anita Neal, and Master Naturalist Terri Brown
• Friday, April 27 at 9:15 a.m. - F.K. Sweet Elementary School - Coordinated by Extension Agents Ken Gioeli and Anita Neal

For additional information on these lady beetle releases, please contact Natural Resources Extension Agent Ken Gioeli at 772-462-1660 or via email at ktgioeli@ufl.edu or Bill Benton, president of the St. Lucie County Chapter of the Florida Master Naturalists, at fmnbillbenton@yahoo.com, or 772-359-6059. Members of the media are welcome to participate.