Lily Beetle 2015

[fixpix]

 Looook!

Horrible... But I am wondering if I had these in the past, as it's the first time I am LOOKING for them on lilies.

But I also found another bug. Really cute.

[Garden Prince]

That "cute bug" looks like a vine weevil with a camouflage jacket on   I would crush it if I came across it.

I haven't seen any lily beetles yet in my Dutch garden but maybe that's because the nights were reasonably cold for the last few weeks.

[Brian Ellis]

I haven't seen any lily beetles yet in my Dutch garden but maybe that's because the nights were reasonably cold for the last few weeks.

I don't think that would make a difference, the first time I saw them was in February a few years back when they were crawling along the ground!

Sorry you seem to have quite a few Fixpix, be vigilant!  I check every time I walk past.

[brianw]

Wikipedia says they also attack
Convallaria majalis, Polygonatum, potato (Solanum tuberosum), flowering tobacco (Nicotiana), hollyhock (Alcea) and Hosta.
I wonder if I find then too late. I.e. after they are well established on other plants I have not noticed them on. My neighbour always gets them first on Frit. meleagris before we both start finding them on Lilies. I have some species lilies up to 3 feet high so far without any attack, but expect them later. Nothing on a number of Frit. persica or imperialis. We need some sticky boards similar to those used for moths in apple trees.

[latestart]

BBC iPlayer TV programmes are available to play in the UK only.

Can I beg the shortest of synopses from someone, please?

Hi Rick,
James Wong gave an organic recipe for getting rid of Lily beetles and the larvae - "spray them with an organic mix made up of a cupful of liquidised or pulverised old garlic bulbs (a chemical is released in stronger amounts if the garlic is old) and fill up with water. Spray am and pm, under and over the leaves. It is apparently the larvae which do most damage although the beetles do eat the leaves too. Use the same solution to spray the stems to a height of at least 12" to deter slugs and snails too. I would be interested to know if it works.

[johnstephen29]

Found my first lily beetle, on a snakes head fritillary, soon stopped when I got hold of it.

[johnw]

Found our first lily beetle in the screened coldframe filled with lily propagations.  There was a small hole in the screen! 

john

[johnstephen29]

Hope you put it to the sword so to speak john.

[Maggi Young]

Hope you put it to the sword so to speak john.

 Perhaps to the toothpick, JohnStephen!!

[johnw]

No swords or toothpicks here. It does however look much like a Jackson Pollack on the frame wall.

Same with root weevils, the crunch between fingers is just too exhilarating to miss.

Brian is spot on, lily beetles are thoroughly unaffected by cold, we've seen them under leaf littler in March 2014 when temps are dropping to below 0c at night.

johnw

[johnstephen29]

I have to admit I do squash the grubs between my fingers, considering what they cover themselves in its a bit  , but it has to be done. The adults end up under my hobnail boot

[Palustris]

Found a dozen today while weeding. They were in the process of making more of them. No longer!

[johnstephen29]

Good man, at least they died happy.

[ArdfearnAli]

Hello I've just been reading an old article in Horticulture week on the control of various beetles one being the lily beetle The link is http://www.hortweek.com/pest-disease-management-beetles/ornamentals/article/1135987 It lists the commercial control chemicals but cypermethrin is available in amateur products and has some residual effect when spraying as are some of the others. There is an HSE web search facility where you can put in the chemical active ingredient and it lists the amateur products that can be used in UK gardens https://secure.pesticides.gov.uk/garden/prodsearch.asp The main reason for checking what else can be used for control is that most people are using provado and continued use may lead to a resistance to it. I generally use two or three insecticides in rotation to help avoid this. Another point is that Provado used for vine weevil etc will be withdrawn in the near future due to the thiacloprid content which is one of the neonicotoid insecticides (all be it not the worst one) which are being withdrawn or have been withdrawn due to a suspected link in the demise of the bee.

Alasdair

[brianw]

Only been on the Fritillaria meleagris until today when they have started on some fine leaved hybrid Lilies. In the frits they seem to spend a lot of the time hiding in the arum and a dwarf alchemilla undergrowth but the lily is over 2 feet tall and they were on the top shredding the leaves. Ugh ;-(
Buckinghamshire