Bag of ladybugs sets off evacuation at LACMA

Art lovers were evacuated from the crowded Magritte exhibit at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on Saturday after a guard noticed ladybugs escaping from a Ziploc bag on the floor in one room of the gallery.

Visitors were asked to leave about 1:45 p.m. and wait outside while workers cleaned up the insects, said Allison Agsten, the museum’s media relations manager. They were allowed back in about 15 minutes later. The exhibit, open since Nov. 19, closes today.

Museum officials said that they did not know who left the ladybugs and that the insects were not featured in any Magritte paintings at the exhibit. No works were damaged, and no one was injured.