Ladybugs ‘may have died from pesticides’ on Aegean island
GÖKÇEADA
The locals of the Aegean resort island of Gökçeada have become concerned after the mass death of ladybugs in recent days.
The issue came to the fore when a vacationer reported tens of thousands of dead ladybirds floating on water off Gökçeada, a tourism center in the northern Aegean province and the world’s first and only Cittaslow island.
İsmail Kasap, an academic from Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University working in the field of entomology, said there could be two reasons behind their death.
Either pesticides used in agricultural areas or insecticides used to fight mosquitos may have killed the ladybugs, he said.
The academic also stressed the possibility that the ladybugs could not find food as a result of overpopulation.
Dead insects and fish that appeared on the water surface in some bays on the island recently caused anxiety among the residents of Gökçeada.
