ON BALANCE
Ladybug, Ladybug, Fly Away Home . . .
The child that lies
within us still experiences a sense of joy whenever one of these
spotted red beetles crosses our path. And, of course, as
veterans of the hard world of adults we nurture, indeed even
harvest these colorful insects to protect our gardens from the
ravages of other despicable pests.
The ladybug or lady
beetle is what we term a beneficial member of the order
Coleoptera and, as such, one that we should harness to
replace our reliance upon insecticides with a form of harmless,
bio-friendly, natural predators. We are not only beseeched
to utilize such remedies by a well-intentioned public, but we
find this course of action adopted and endorsed by such
regulatory powers as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
When these agencies continue to remove one after another tool
previously part of the chemical arsenal that helped us control
both agricultural and public health pesticides, they buttress
their own defense against liabilities by stressing the use of
nematodes, lady beetles and even some microbes, claiming these
methods are safer even if less effective at protecting our food,
forage and health.
But alas, in this
case we have just been rudely shocked with new medical research
that points to the ladybug as a source of human disease: asthma.
This seems totally unfair. First it was the knowledge that
cockroaches are a very significant source of childhood allergies
and asthma, a fact that upset those purists who felt we should
learn to live with cockroaches as a form of cultural maturity.
Now comes the news that a cherished fairytale creature is in
truth a potential ogre. Just what are we to do?
My suggestion is
simply to step back and take a measured look at Nature and
recognize that it is neither good nor bad but rather active and
quite responsive to what we do or fail to do! When it comes
to the facts of life - and that includes a knowledge of how we
can best and most comfortably achieve a reasonable quality of
life - we need to base our political and philosophical decisions
upon factual and scientific data. There should be no room
for emotional, biased propaganda in assembling those building
blocks of decision-making called facts. What action we take once
we know what is at stake is another matter, and indeed this is
the arena in which we can make sacrifices and pursue crusades.
This is where the criticism of our federal regulators, especially the Environmental Protection Agency, comes in to play. I have worked with this agency since its inception and have unfortunately found that they begin with a political agenda and then search for, promulgate and promote findings - often outrageously in error - which will support their preconceived wishes. No one desires to banish the ladybug; on the other hand, it is a foolish mistake to place it on a pedestal, let alone enact legislation that forces us to worship it!
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