Some gardeners cringe at the sight of a colony of spider mites or other crop-destroying insects.
Chemically poisonous pesticides are one choice in dealing with the problem, but a Gainesville company has an environmentally safe and friendly alternative. Scientists at Predation have developed a way to mass-produce beneficial insects, including ladybugs, by replacing their natural insect diet with an artificial and easily reproducible food. Growth of these beneficial bugs on artificial diets lowers the cost of production by more than 100 fold. Most ladybugs sold commercially come from the Sierra Mountains in California, he said. We feel what we are doing is more environmentally responsible because we are not depleting nature.