A shopper shared an organic gardening "product" that not only seemed like it was in unsellable condition, but furthermore seemed like a terrible idea to begin with.

The Redditor posted to the r/mildlyinfuriating community, with images of mostly dead ladybugs on sale at Lowe's for $9.

The picture shows a product marketed as "Gardeners Lady Bugs." The bottom includes a stack of apparently deceased bugs. At the top, a smattering of live bugs appears to be congregated. A second photo shows praying mantises similarly on sale.

"Well, that's just wrong," a user reacted simply.

The scenario revealed just how far some stores will go to turn a profit. The thinking behind offering the bugs to gardeners at all is their effectiveness in pest control.

As Ankit Singh, a professor at the University of Maine and horticulture expert, told MarthaStewart.com, store-bought ladybugs aren't the right move for gardeners.

For starters, many of them are captive and will flee your garden as soon as they are released. They're also potentially bad for the local ecosystem. Up to 15% of them carry an internal parasite, Dinocampus coccinellae, and others are infected with a disease called Microsporidia. 

Buyers can inadvertently introduce these ailments into local ladybug populations just by bringing the products home. There's also the factor on display that the storage and handling of them is clearly dangerous to them and could lead to their demise, as the OP observed.

Refreshingly, Lowes.com no longer sells ladybugs online. A 2.3-star customer rating with many customers complaining the ladybugs were dead or died quickly, flew away, or were invasive species to their area, has something to do with that.

While the intent of using ladybirds instead of pesticides for natural pest control is on the right track, there are better ways to go about it. 

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Planting sunflowers, coriander, chamomile, and dill can naturally attract native ladybugs from the area. Adding ladybug homes and small water sources is another way to help them thrive in your garden. Just make sure you aren't inadvertently nurturing invasive Asian ladybeetles.

Redditors sounded off in the comments about the ladybug offering.

"You need to plant and water them, duh," a user joked. "These are ladybug seeds."

"I feel extremely bad for the ladybugs to the point where it makes me sad," a commenter shared. "I don't think any animal should be kept in a small container."

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