Lilly beetles

Discussion in 'Pests, Diseases and Cures' started by Loki, May 12, 2019.

  1. Loki

    Loki Total Gardener

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    ggggrrrrhhhhh!!!!!!
    Cheeky little critters where even copulating in front of me :yikes:
    I've removed said pot to the , needs attending to corner. Apart from squishing, or spraying, I guess I'm losing the battle?
     
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    • Mike Allen

      Mike Allen Total Gardener

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      A friend of mine once said, respecting David Attenboroughs TV programs. I don't watch them. They are all about hunting, killing and sex.

      So. I hunt the supermarkets for food. I have killed homebred livestock for the table. SEX! Something from my far distant past rings a bell.

      Answeres solutions on a post card please.:whistle:
       
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        Last edited: May 13, 2019
      • Upsydaisy

        Upsydaisy Total Gardener

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        Yes I caught several ...doing things that I definitely don't want them doing too!!
         
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        • Verdun

          Verdun Passionate gardener

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          One of the very few things I do spray for......a single spray early last year and same this year means no lily beetle and fine lilies :)
           
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          • Upsydaisy

            Upsydaisy Total Gardener

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            Try to avoid sprays but they are a pain..:wallbanging:
            What do you use @Verdun please, may have to resort to desperate measures!!:)
             
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            • Loofah

              Loofah Admin Staff Member

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              Provado will do the job; other than that you have to check them at least twice daily and they'll still hack the lillies to bits :(
               
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              • Verdun

                Verdun Passionate gardener

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                Yes I know Upsy ...Chemicals are not great

                I used Resolva Bug Killer. One thorough spray ...timed right....works very well. “Timed right”......works effectively on larvae and adults ....means around now or earlier here.

                The “organic” squashing alternative is not really effective. ...have you tried to squash them? They are fast to avoid you and once they drop onto the ground they are impossible to see. Also what we see is just the tip of the iceberg so the damage continues. So this is not the answer. Many simply stop growing them but what a shame! I grow lots of them

                Interestingly though in some parts of the garden, where the soil is poor and pretty hot, I am not bothered by lily beetle at all:noidea:

                If there is an organic...effective organic....spray maybe someone on the forum can name it:)
                 
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                • Loki

                  Loki Total Gardener

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                  Squished my first one tonight :yikes: I had moved the original problem pot away from my favourite lillies. However, one found its way, to my favs
                  :paladin:,I hate squishing but I love my lillies:dunno:
                  What even eats these?
                  I’m guessing they are a bug new to these shores?
                   
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                  • longk

                    longk Total Gardener

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                    They've been around for donkeys years! If you have Fritillaries they usually start the year on those. I've actually had two off of my Alliums this year!!
                    The main reason that I wage war on them though is that they love Tricyrtis. Anything that threatens my Toad Lilies is doomed.
                     
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                    • Upsydaisy

                      Upsydaisy Total Gardener

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                      Yes @Verdun , I'm afraid I'm a squasher alright!!
                      I have my little pot and a small paint brush, holding the pot underneath the leaf and then brushing the culprit into the pot. I caught quite a few yesterday,but sadly one little ****** got away! It's now top of my hit list....I have it's mug shot poster all around my garden, so there will be no chance of mistaken identity!!:lunapic 130165696578242 5:

                      As you say though they are just the tip of the iceberg and despite my vigilante patrols we always end the season with bare stalks :sad::cry3:
                       
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                      • longk

                        longk Total Gardener

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                        This is a first for me - I found one on an Alstroemeria at the weekend. A rare Alstro at that!
                         
                      • Verdun

                        Verdun Passionate gardener

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                        Lily beetles will attack several other plants but I think the source of them will be lilies :noidea: So control on lilies will, hopefully, safeguard the rest :)
                         
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                        • longk

                          longk Total Gardener

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                          Frits I reckon. They're easily the first to emerge here and the red devils are about long before any of my Lilies poke their heads out. Like I said, they're doomed 'cos they like my Tricyrtis too much.
                           
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                          • Freddy

                            Freddy Miserable git, well known for it

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                            Out of interest, do they bother Callas?
                             
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                            • Mike Allen

                              Mike Allen Total Gardener

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                              Lily Beetle. - Liloceris lilii. If you haven't yet seen one. Don't worry, if one or more visit your garden, you will readily identify the scarlet invader. It may be that at first you don't see him/her but if in the vicinity of your prized lillies then soon you will observe discusting waste deposits on the leaves, perhaps before any actual damage has been caused. Makes you shudder at times. In reallity the egg is deposited and then in no other words applicable it is engulfed in beetle poo (crap). Poor sad Junior, what a way to enter the world. Perhaps there is some motto. If the poo don't get you. then finger and thumb will.

                              I have over the years had many lillies ruined by the scarlet invader. No, I have never shown any plants but at the end of the day, if you have perhaps lashed out and paid a high price for a bulb, only to have the plant ruined, words may be un-printable.

                              It can be difficult to distinguish at times, what has been biting chuncks out of the leaves, unless you actually catch the culprit in the act. I therefore see no reason why the lily beetle wouldn't dine on other similar fleshy type foliage, but having said that. My limited studies have only ever identified the genus lilium/etc as being a suitable birthing/nursery place. Some twelve years ago, we had a winters fall of snow, and exiting the greenhouse this bright scarlet critter was highlighted on one of my rhododendrons. I speedily related the last rights and bought to an end his/her winter sufferrings.
                               
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