Insect LoreLadybug Land | Ladybug Growing Kit Habitat | Redeem Voucher For Live Ladybug Larvae

We are enjoying watching the larvae wander around the habitat. One note regarding the sponge: if you live in a dryer climate, I think the water recommendation should be adjusted accordingly. We took note of the change in color when the sponge is damp and add more drops if no area of the sponge is that color. As a result, and because it is so dry where we live, we add one or two drops of water in the morning and mid-afternoon. I know it says not to add too much water, but I don't think the instructions are accurate for high-altitude, dry climates.

We have grown Insect Lore's caterpillars before but this was our first time with ladybugs. It was so cool to observe the larva transform into beetles! The children (ages 3-6) were very engaged with the process and learned so much along the way. We paired it with reference books and posters so we could all learn new vocabulary. The Ladybug Land Kit comes with everything you need including a voucher to get the larva. When it's time to release the ladybugs, the dome comes off for easy access. Our kit hatched about 15 ladybugs!

The toddlers in my classroom who were mostly in the 2 year or older range enjoyed watching as the larvae moved around and then began to make their pupaes. Every day before our circle we would take the ladybug land out of where it was and put it on the table for the children to look at and they did great taking their turns. Once the ladybugs emerged they were even more excited! We are going to release the ladybugs within the next week or so.

I was excited to purchase this for my kids to witness the life cycle of lady bugs. I also have an organic vegetable garden and was equally excited to release the adult lady bugs into it when they were adults. I never got to fully do either.....I found this kit when I was searching for "live lady bugs" to order as beneficial insects for my garden. I though this would be great. Based on the first two 5 star reviews from 2004 on this product I went ahead and ordered.- You have to pay $5 more to have the lady bug larvae shipped to you.... ( I wish this was in larger print on the product description page, not a big deal as I understand shipping live insects does cost money, just wish I had seen it before ordering)- Our first batch of larvae all arrived DOA. I emailed customer service and they told me to wait a week to make sure before contacting them back. They said sometimes the larvae do not move much and need time to acclimate. I wrote them back after a week as everything still was DOA.- The second batch arrived a few days later. The company does ship well and provided tracking and email confirmations which was nice. This time only half the contents of the shipping vial were DOA. You can clearly see the live ones moving around. I think the week wait was a little much. You should be able to discern viability in just 24-36 hrs. However, they do make you wait the required number of days.- We filled the dome food tray with the wet sponge and placed the larvae inside. Soon mold began to grow on the food sponge and larvae started dying. Within one week all the larvae were dead despite us cleaning out the mold and following the instructions to the letter!- It is a real heart breaking experience for the kids to watch the larvae not make it. We also don't like seeing that as well. I believe the habitat's design could be better improved upon. The larvae food, feeding, water sponge and air circulation seem to be the main factors that affected us.- I can only conclude that I would have been way better off just ordering larvae and putting them directly out in my garden. The kids could have visited the garden and we could have tried seeing them there. After spending $20 to end up with a cheap plastic habitat that will end up in the garbage and to watch 2 sets of lady bug larvae die, it was definitely not worth it!I think there are some major issues here..... I wish I could return this but by the time all of this has occurred it is now past the 30 return window.I hope this review helps and perhaps has saved some lady bug larvae lives..... Anything that involves live creatures should absolutely be well tested and continually monitored and updated as needed to ensure the best for the creatures and people involved. This is just not acceptable.

As promised by the company, I received a tube of approx 11 super small ladybug larvae with brown-colored powdery food. Let it be known that the commercial posted here on Amazon is inaccurate/ not recently updated.It is beginning of March in Northern California (temp = 55-70 degrees) and all the ladybugs arrived in the tube ALIVE! Hooray! I'm already luckier than several other Ladybug land customers. haha. Its been almost 2 days and they've grown so much.I followed the instructions except for one step so far... The instructions and the Amazon video indicate to dump the tube's contents through the habitat's small hole at the top. After reading other negative reviews regarding moldy ladybug food beforehand, I decided that this action would actually cause the ladybug food to spoil, probably causing a toxic environment for the ladybugs. So, I actually took off the clear cover of the habitat first. Then, I dumped nearly powdery food onto the habitat's dry flattened area on the side of the hill. Still having the tube's open end on the flat area, I guided the clear cover's small open top over the tube's closed end. Be quick though, because you don't want to lose a ladybug! Once the clear cover snapped into place, then I emptied the paper strip and ladybugs into the container. This allowed the food to stay on the side of the hill. Finally, I used the enclosed dropper to place bottled water droplets into the gray fuzz in the water reservoir. Another option is to empty the clear cover upside down and then snap the bottom habitat into the cover while everything upside down.My 2.5 yr old daughter is really enjoying the ladybug larvae right now.3/16/2014 update: The larvae have now molted into adorable little ladybugs! Super easy maintenance of just adding some drops of water into the fuzzy ball reservoir. Nothing else needed to be done. Being a science nerd, I'm having more fun than my daughter, but whatever! Its fun. Its cheap. Its easy maintenance. Its been 2 weeks and they appear to be alive. So far, 11 ladybugs total. I'm happy with my experience. Company delivered ladybugs as promised. Ladybugs healthy and fun to watch. No problems at all.3/21/2014 update: The larvae turned into adult ladybugs after 3 weeks of having them. Everything went an planned, according to the instructions. I am very pleased with product and my daughter enjoyed it so much! Due to the instructions indicating the ladybug life would be approx 3 weeks in habitat, I decided to let them free now. Too bad.... lots of fun! Looks like we'll need to order more soon!