LADYBUGS AND APHIDS TO FIGHT IT OUT IN SPACE

LADYBUGS AND APHIDS TO FIGHT IT OUT IN SPACE

DENVER, Colo. (Wireless Flash) -- The astronauts participating in Tuesday's Space Shuttle Launch are going to be bugged during the flight -- literally. The astronauts will be conducting an experiment to see if ladybugs will attack aphids in zero gravity. The experiment was devised by an all-girls high school in Santiago, Chile, and pits plant-eating aphids against their mortal enemies, ladybugs, in a zero gravity terrarium filled with wheat stalks. On Earth, aphids flee from attacking ladybugs by jumping off plants onto the ground. However, scientists want to see if the aphids will change their technique once they're floating around in zero gravity.

CONTACT: Louis Stodieck, ***; Denver, CO; (303) 492-4010