Insect Lore Ladybug Land
by Insect Lore
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List Price: Our Price: $8.75 You Save: $11.24 (56%) Availability: Usually ships in 2-3 business days Category: Toy See more product details |
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Toys and Games Reviews of Insect Lore Ladybug Land
Customer Review: Teacher and Parent
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this for my son's third birthday. He's already an avid entomologist. The larvae arrived just as expected already shedding its skin, which each one did multiple times. It was fascinating for my husband and me as well. The three of us found ourselves glued together watching these amazing creatures as the larvae shed it's final skin and entered the pupa stage. Several days after the fully-formed ladybugs emerged (they were yellow at first), we set them free into our back yard. They have a distinct appearance which is slightly different than the ladybugs we're accustomed to seeing around here. Therefore we have been able to easily identify them when we come across them in our yard. We received about 14 or 15 ladybug larvae and all survived to become ladybugs except for one, which I consider to be pretty impressive. The container was especially effective because my son was not able (or tempted) to manhandle to ladybugs, yet it was easy to keep the water filled with the specially designed lid and water tube. We had an excellent view of all the events taking place inside. I would recommend purchasing books to go along with this. We had four different simple books relying upon excellent photographs and easy-to-understand descriptions. This heightened my son's (and our) anticipation and helped us to better understand what was happening.
I can honestly say that this has been well-worth the price we paid for it. Soon we're going to get a refill kit of ladybug larvae and begin anew.
Customer Review: Not a Good Experience
Summary: 1 Stars
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!!!Customer Review: Stop Now! Don't Do it!
Summary: 2 Stars
I've been a fan of Amazon and all of it's sellers/products for years and this is the first negative review I've ever written. As a mom and an educator, I am extremely disappointed in this product. The dome looks great, the concept is great and the memories I hope it will one day create should be great. We bought this for my 4-year-old at Christmas but waited for warmer weather to send off for the ladybug larvae. I received an e-mail confirmation on March 20th and still have not received the larvae. Today is April 18th. My daughter checks the mail every single day in hopes that her larvae is here. There is no phone number on the Insect Lore website to call and I have inquired electronically under "contact us" three times and no one is responding. I gave them my order number, my phone number, and my e-mail address. Nothing. Very poor customer service. We will not order from them again. However, on the same night, we ordered butterfly larvae and ants for an ant farm at [...]. They arrived in four days in perfect condition. We only ordered the ladybugs from I.L. because they came with the kit my daughter received at Chrismtas. Science and life cycles are fascinating to little ones. Unfortunately, this was the wrong company to do business with. I see that several other Amazon shoppers are saying the same thing. How sad.Customer Review: Fun For Everyone!
Summary: 5 Stars
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.
Customer Review: Ladybug Lover's Dream Come True
Summary: 5 Stars
My 5-year old daughter and I just released our adult ladybugs into our yard this morning. It was a wonderful experience, from start to finish! Our first batch of ladybug larvae didn't seem to be doing very well, so I called Customer Service and they quickly shipped out another batch of larvae, which was much appreciated. We ended up with approximately ten ladybugs growing to maturity and it was pretty fascinating. The dome lid sits very loosely on top of the Ladybug Land, so I put two pieces of scotch tape on each end so little fingers wouldn't knock it off by accident. The larvae and ladybugs would hardly move until I shone a light on them while observing, so if you want some action, this seems to wake them up. Then they scoot all over the place! Two of our ladybugs were having an "intimate moment" this morning as we went to release them, which was hilarious to explain to my daughter. She can hardly wait to see the new baby ladybugs that will be arriving in our yard! We will be definitely be ordering anther batch of larvae to start again, it's a very educational and fun project.