Lost Ladybug Project

"Over the past twenty years several native ladybug species that were once very common have become extremely rare... During this same time several species of ladybugs from other places have greatly increased both their numbers and range. Besides being incredibly cool and charismatic, ladybugs are also essential predators... To be able to help the nine spotted ladybug and other ladybug species, scientists need to have detailed information on which species are still out there and how many individuals are around. Entomologists at Cornell can identify the different species but there are too few of us to sample in enough places to find the really rare ones. We need you to be our legs, hands and eyes. If you could look for ladybugs and send us pictures of them on Email we can start to gather the information we need. We are very interested in the rare species but any pictures will help us. This is the ultimate summer science project for kids and adults! You can learn, have fun and help save these important species."