Hailey Fuchs (photo)
Alice McGill with her ladybug.
Alice McGill carefully placed squirmy ladybugs, which she thought were “pretty cool,” on the flowers in the garden of the Mitchell branch library. She helds out her hand as to present the red ladybug for a photo. Then, when she lifted her hands, Alice squealed in surprise as the bug took flight.
“I love it when they do that,” gushed Alicel, who’s 10 years old. She later admitted that she is occasionally spooked when the ladybugs crawl all over her.
Library volunteers help children craft ladybug hats.
McGill was one of dozens of children who enjoyed a “Ladybug Release Party” Monday evening. Co-ponsored by Blockwatch #303, Common Ground High School, the New Haven Department of Parks Recreation and Trees, and the Westville Village Renaissance Alliance, the celebration introduced families to Connecticut wildlife and the capability of ladybugs to serve as natural pest control. The event included a reptile petting zoo, arts and crafts stations, and free ice cream.
Ladybugs eat aphids, a common insect that feasts on the sap of new plant growth. Unlike toxic pesticides, which have been linked to chronic pain, reproductive harm, and even cancer, ladybugs are natural predators of the destructive garden pest.
“They don’t bite. Don’t worry,” reassured Kate Bradley, as she placed the bugs in the outstretched hands of eager children.
Kate Bradley places ladybugs on the flowers in the garden of Mitchell Library.
Bradley, a neighborhood gardener, unleashes the ladybugs each year at the annual party alongside her husband Bob. Committed to the upkeep of their village, the two tend to the library’s garden as well as other sites around Westville.
Library Branch Manager Sharon Lovett-Graff called the couple her “garden fairies.”
Bob Bradley said that the ladybug party served to create an inclusive neighborhood and encouraged children to get outside — “something other than video games and television.”
A child and parent place ladybugs on the plants.
Indeed, Barbara Kabala, a preschool teacher and parent whose daughter particularly loves ladybugs, said the event discouraged children from fearing bugs, as she had seen in her preschool classes. This close-up demonstration was even more valuable than reading a book about the creatures, agreed librarian Tonjii Ormsby,.
Rasikh Tuktamyshou, whose son had made a sneak attempt to run away with the tortoise at the reptile putting zoo, also said the party fostered a healthy appreciation for the environment.
Rasikh Tuktamyshou’s son with the tortoise.
Luckily, Harry Coyle, a city park ranger who brought the tortoise, a turtle, and two snakes, swiftly caught the little runaway before he could get more than a few feet away. Later he helped one parent convince her son to better protect himself when he searched for salamanders outside.
Coyle referred to the children as future “stewards of the planet” and hoped his reptile petting zoo would teach respect for the environment.
“How are people going to care about wildlife if they can’t connect to it?” asked Ivette Lopez, a representative from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who seeks to encourage urban communities to engage with their environment by introducing children to local wildlife from Connecticut.
Attendees underscored the importance of environmental education given the imminent danger of climate change. Jessica Fumiatti, a Mitchell branch librarian, said that it is particularly important for people to acknowledge the role of ladybugs in our ecosystem and how they affect our environment.
Children from the Westville community play with an exotic tortoise and local turtle in the library’s front yard.