Seoul Metropolitan Government unveiled Sunday a plan to build what it calls “insect hotels” to create places where bugs can seek refuge.

Seoul plans to build and place 27 structures designed to house bugs across the city to help protect bugs from the reckless spread of insecticide.

The 80-by-185 centimeter wooden constructions will be made mostly of scrap wood. Carpenter shops in Seodaemun-gu and Dobong-gu districts will be in charge of building them.

The bug hotels will host a variety of insects, including dragonflies, honeybees, ladybugs, and earwigs. Each floor will be packed with different materials to accommodate the needs of different types of insect.

The first floor, designed for honeybees and wasps, will store logs and bricks. The second floor will have a small board where ladybugs and caterpillars can eat plant lice. Other critters will find a place to take shelter in the oak logs of the third floor.

The fourth floor will contain dried grass and a wooden board, through which hard-shelled insects, such as beetles, can bore holes. The fifth floor penthouse is likely to attract a massive gathering of bugs of all types, with its eclectic collection of wheat straw, wood, and bamboo poles.

The bug hotels will be placed in nine districts in Seoul, including Eupyeong-gu, Gwangjin-gu, and Songpa-gu.

By Suh Ye-seul  (sys@heraldcorp.com)