No one has actually seen the New York state insect in New York state in 15 years — and Jason Hamilton is determined to find out why. Hamilton, an associate professor of biology at Ithaca College, and John Losey, a Cornell University professor of Entomology, are collaborating on a project to find the once thriving nine-spotted ladybug and understand why its population has plummeted so drastically. It has been photographed in the northeast United States only once in the last 14 years.

“This bug was common enough to become the New York state insect and was common in the whole northeast,” he said. “In the matter of a few years, just a decade, [it has] disappeared completely,” Hamilton said. Hamilton and Losey began discussing the possibility of a conservation and research project for the nine-spotted ladybug — also known as the C-9 — nearly two years ago. The scientists hope to apply Losey’s background in entomology and Hamilton’s specialty in global change to the relatively unexamined drop in the C-9 population.

“First the question was: Is [the C-9] still out there [and] just in low numbers?” Losey said. “The second question that is almost more interesting is: What happened to it and how can we prevent that from happening to other animals?”

Their efforts paid off in late July when nearly 25 volunteers they gathered from mass e-mails, an advertisement and local media attention participated in the two-day Ladybug Blitz. From July 27 to July 28, they swept through fields on Hanshaw Road in Ithaca, catching a total of 800 ladybugs and collecting them in plastic vials. Hamilton and Losey then photographed and catalogued each bug in a roadside station.

While no volunteers found a C-9 ladybug, they did photograph eight varieties, one of which is fairly rare.

“Lots of times scientific research has the goal of generating knowledge, which this

certainly does,” Hamilton said. “But that is only one of the goals, with the other equally as important goal of getting people in the community to participate in science.”

The ladybugs were photographed and identified at the site in a roadside station,
creating a database of the ladybug types in the area. The scientists used coolers to lower the ladybug’s body temperatures and slow them down without doing harm, Hamilton said.

“They wake up again and they’re off on their merry way,” he said.

Losey hopes by using more advanced technology, a greater number of bugs will be processed on future Ladybug Blitzes. He is developing a stationary camera that vacuums air out and pulls the insect against a screen without harming it, allowing them to photograph in the field more quickly and avoid the cooling process they are currently using.

Hamilton said he has received positive feedback from those who participated in the first Ladybug Blitz and has been surprised to be recognized in Ithaca as “the ladybug guy.”

“While we were at the Ladybug Blitz, someone on the second day had read the article in [The Ithaca Journal] and found a ladybug in their backyard,” he said “[He] drove all the way out there and gave it to us just to be a part of it.”

Hamilton and Losey are waiting to hear from the National Science Foundation (NSF) in mid-September to learn if they will receive a grant to fund their efforts for the next four years, Losey said.

In all, Losey said they expect to photograph 30,000 to 50,000 ladybugs. They are currently working with a scientist in South Dakota and hope to extend their project to other parts of the country, Losey said.

While the weather permits, Hamilton and Losey are planning to conduct at least one more Ladybug Blitz and smaller research trips with their respective classes and a monestary school in Ithaca. Hamilton is teaching an independent study course and hopes that one of his students will take interest in the project.

Sophomore biochemistry major Josh Roaf said Hamilton has given speeches on sustainability and conservation in two of his classes, stressing the importance of living consciously of  environmental problems.

“[Hamilton is] an extremely passionate person,” he said. “He pushes people to really go out and try it. He comes up with really neat and creative ways to bring [sustainability] to students.”

Hamilton and Losey both believe research with a focus on citizen participation will not only benefit the declining C-9 population, but the entire ecosystem. 

“The only way we’re going to get through the environmental problems of the next couple decades is if people really start to love the world around them,” Hamilton said.  “People need to get connected to it so intimately that they care about it and want to protect it.”