I bought this kit for the library I work at in Utah, so that the children could come in and watch the ladybugs grow as a part of our Catch the Reading Bug summer reading program. It was a big hit! We had to order them again, because the kids were sad we released the ladybugs. The first time we did it, however, out of the 12 ladybugs, only three made it to adult. The second time we had better luck. We currently have six of 10 that turned into adults. I wouldn't be surprised if we have some eggs in the habitat pretty soon.

The butterfly kits were a big success as well. We had one handicap butterfly, but he/she learned to fly just fine. We ended up having 8 of 10 turn into butterflies (despite the fact that three of the chrysalis fell down).

As for some having dead ladybugs arrive, it's possible that the environments they were shipped through were too hot for them. You may want to consider contacting the company first if you're worried about the larvae arriving alive. All of our ladybugs arrived alive, so I can't be sure why this problem occurred. As for Oregon residents who bought this kit, unfortunately most companies won't ship ladybugs to Oregon, but try googling live ladybug kits. There may be a company out there who will ship to Oregon.

My 6 year old daughter loved this toy. She is having fun studying the bugs from our garden, we did not even receive the mail order bugs yet.

My sister ordered this for my 11 year old daughter. We promptly ordered the larvae with the understanding that they would not mail them until the weather conditions were agreeable. We ordered them in Texas in August so when we didn't get them for a couple of months, we thought it was still too hot. Finally about 4 months after we ordered the larvae (and had received nothing), I called the company. Firstly, they acted like I was crazy for not having called them sooner and/or was lying about it. They asked for proof of purchase. I said I had our half of the postcard that we used to order the larvae. They asked that I fax a copy of this to them. (Still felt like they thought I was trying to pull some scam!!) We then received a mailing tube of what appeared to be dead larvae. We went ahead and followed all directions to the letter. Nothing ever moved, lived or developed at all. I faxed a copy of the original card again telling them that everything was dead when received and/or died in transit. That was at least 6 months ago and they never even responded. Don't waste your money on this. Sadly, the company is not at all interested in the children that are disappointed. Every time I look at that empty habitat (kinda cute actually), I'm furious at a company that doesn't care that my 11 year old (now 12) got a useless gift that should have been a good gift! Shame on Insect Lore!!!

I couldn't wait for when the lady bugs arrived in the mail. When they finally did, I was grossed out at the fact that they were tiny larvae. There wasn't much to watch besides the fact that you had to feed them everyday or else they'd die, but reaching my hand in there was probably one of the most dreaded things of the day...especially because nobody else would do it for me!

A lot of people complain that the ladybugs didnt live but I think all of mine made it to the ladybug stage. It may have been a disgusting process, but it felt great to finally let them go.

I recommend not getting these if you are not going to be willing to feed them and see white larvae.

I bought this item for my kindergarten class. We watched the larvae crawl around for a few days, but they ate all the food they came with on the first day. I started to worry they would starve, so I fed them aphids until they went into the pupae phase. I got about 10 ladybugs, and only 4 of them survived to become adult ladybugs, but the kids were really excited when they finally came out. They look a little different than regular red ladybugs, but you can still tell that's what they are. The kids enjoyed watching them, and it made for a great science experiment in the classroom. I would highly recommend this product to anyone teaching small children. You do have to be careful not to knock the lid off. I had several escapees because my children kept bumping the lid, and they were able to crawl out from under it.