Free bugs for pest control

GARDENERS in Caen have just a few weeks to take advantage of an offer by the town – free insect larvae.

For 33 years the local authority has chosen to hand out the bugs as the most effective way to control other pests such as aphids.

Every year they distribute in the region of 45,000 ladybird and lacewing larvae.

Gardeners can collect the free larvae from 9.30-11.30am on Fridays at the reception desk of the Jardin des Plantes until July 8.

The larvae are given away with advice on how to look after them, and other tips on successful organic gardening.

Every year from mid-March onwards Caen also releases around 50,000 larvae into parks and green spaces around the town.

Earlier this week the Minister for Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy, Ségolène Royal, called for the herbicide Round Up to be banned. She has also requested garden centres to sell it from locked glass cabinets.

Ecologists say that even if herbicides are shown not to be directly toxic to humans, they reduce biodiversity and therefore indirectly damage the ecology.

Ladybird larvae can also be bought online.

Photo: Flickr/Stig Nygaard