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Beetle On Lavender. It's not a Ladybird, but what is it?


Beetle On Lavender. It's not a Ladybird, but what is it?

Can anybody please identify this bug that I've noticed recently on my Lavender plants? There are hundreds of them. They are, roughly the same shape and size as a Ladybird but are a sort of bright metallic green with reddy/brown stripes.I've never seen them before this year. Do you know what they are and will they damage/eat my Lavender flowers? Or are they the foreign Ladybirds we keep hearing about? If they are foreigners, will they damage our native bugs?



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Not seen this before Paul....Quite a handsome looking thing......Lets hope someone can throw some light on him.

18 Jun, 2009

 

I hope so Milky, before my flowers disappear or all the Ladybirds! It's incredible to look at. So shiny, it reflects images.

18 Jun, 2009

 

Looks creepy..... :o( Lol.

18 Jun, 2009

 

Have answered this in questions. As sure as I can be that this is Rosemary Beetle.

18 Jun, 2009

 

Brilliant, thanks Louloubelle. Have heard of Rosemary beetle recently. Will go and read your comments on my question.

18 Jun, 2009

 

Paul ~ please don't send me one of these with the seeds. Lol.

18 Jun, 2009

 

ill go read it too, as ive just bought some Lavender plants

18 Jun, 2009

 

Yes, thanks again Louloubelle. It is indeed the Rosemary Beetle, having visited the RHS site. Looks like I could have problems with the amount I have. I'd best shake them off and send them to Tt. BUT DON'T TELL HER WILL YOU????

18 Jun, 2009

 

:o( Lol.

I suggest you train Paddy as a sniffer dog to hunt out all the Rosemary beetles. :o)

18 Jun, 2009

 

He's too busy barking at the passers by through the trellis!

18 Jun, 2009

 

Maybe he's barking at Rosemary beetles....
better take a closer look at your trellis..... :o)

18 Jun, 2009

 

\\\\now you've got me worried. I shall have metalic green and red nightmares tonight! I shall never be able to smell Lavender again and it's supposed to help you sleep. I'm going to lose sleep over it!!!! Beetles in the trellis Tt, i shall have to pack up and move! It's all too much!

18 Jun, 2009

 

I wonder if the beetles have spread as far as Cow Watering Lane...
That's on my photos... That's in Essex....
Good night Paul... closing my laptop now...
sweet dreams... don't let the Rosemary beetles bite. :o)

18 Jun, 2009

 

i heard the beatles are in penny lane, with elenor rigby, ..lol

19 Jun, 2009

 

Lol. Sandra.... very good :o)

19 Jun, 2009

 

A quick way to pick rosemary beetles off is to shake the bush lightly then stamp on them - you could use a sheet of newspaper underneath to make it easier to catch them. I'm not normally that murderous, but they did a heck of a lot of damage to my rosemary plants (I ended up having to dig up one) before I realised what they were. It's their larvae that do the most damage. Like the harlequin ladybirds they are relatively new to this country and I'm not sure that they have any natural predators yet.

19 Jun, 2009

 

Well, Sandra, that's coincidental that you should mention Penny Lane because that was our preious address. we lived in Penny Lane ( in Stanford-le-hope, not Liverpool) for 22 years. But,I didn't have the Beetles there. Thaks, Elleme. I shall shake them off onto something (to catch them) I don't really want to squash them , so perhaps I'll take them to a field or somethiong and let them go. The trouble with that of coures, is that they will find their way, no doubt, to someones plants! i'll have to struggle with my concience for a while over that one!

21 Jun, 2009

 

I think it looks so much like a humbug, perhaps you could eat them for a treat!!! I shall remember Rosemary Beetles as I have heathers too.

25 Jun, 2009

 

Think I'll pass on that Pamazon. There were so many of them, I think I'd get indiegestion (The Rosemary burps, perhaps!)

25 Jun, 2009

 

Luckily, in my garden I have two natural predators of the Giant Rosemary Beetles. Lol.

25 Jun, 2009

 

My son got this from Google
The rosemary beetle (Chrysolina americana) is a smallish beetle, slightly larger than a ladybird. It has a metallic green body with purple stripes running from top to bottom.

The larva are a greyish colour and are similar in size to the adult beetle. The eggs are shaped like sausages and roughly the length of a pen tip. They may be found on the undersides of leaves from September until March.

The beetle is predominately a pest on rosemary and lavender plants, but it can also survive on sage and thyme. The beetle is mainly active in August to September, when it will feed and mate. Eggs will hatch after about two weeks, and the larva will feed for roughly three weeks before pupating underground. Due to the warmer winters, the beetle will overwinter on the plant.
Hope it helps. I had some in the garden last year and I thought they were just ladybirds in fancy dress. LOL

26 Jun, 2009

 

Oh dear! Hope they don't come around the Birmingham area LOL

26 Jun, 2009

 

Lol. Are you saying those giant beetles on my current photo might not be Rosemary Beetles ??? :o)

26 Jun, 2009

 

There is a certain amount of doubt! I shall have to send David Bellamy round to identify. There's a coincidence. I haven't heard much of Mr Bellamy for a few years but last weekend when Graeme was performing at Seaview holiday park, Weymouth, I noyiced he was doing a wildlife 'thing' at the centre that Saturday!

27 Jun, 2009



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