Lillie beetles

I checked My Lillies today Trees&Things as Mageth z she had them eatting Hers yesterday :( i found 2 which had been snacking On The New Lily Growth :/

Found some on mine yesterday,got rid of in appropiate manner...lol.

Yes - I posted a question last week to find out if anyone else had seen any. There were 4 or 5 of the little devils chomping my lilies! I caught 4 and missed the other.

SQUISH! I am watching out twice daily now. :-(

Have you tried leaving the squished ones in a pile near the lilies??? Sometimes it deters future visitations for a few days. I know it works with June Bugs and Blister Beetles over here.

treesandthings. I started finding them a couple of weeks ago, so far we've squashed 20 and still counting.

We must be careful, as there is another beetle called the cardinal beetle that looks very similar to the lily beetle. The cardinal beetles don't have to be killed, they are good guys.
The lily beetle drops of the flower at the first sign of disturbance and turns on it's back, the underneath is black so sometimes you can't see it, and it's left to live another day.

Latin name: Lilioceris lilii

Size: 8 to 10mms long

Distribution: Mainly found in Wales, and England. Recently reached Scotland.

Months seen: April to August.

Food: Lily leaves.

Special features: Lily beetles arrived in Britain on imported flowers in the early 1900's. They are similar in appearance to cardinal beetles, however, they have a much more rounded body, and the wing cases are covered in tiny dimples. They are a pest of lily plants.

The larvae have a delightful habit of disguising themselves as a pile of bird droppings.

They do this (don't try this at home) by covering themselves in their own poo.

Did You Know?
Lily beetles make a squeaking sound when they are distressed

Yes i have had the lilly beetle on my lillies.....last week....

Do they appear at any particular time of day? So far I haven't seen any. Inspected the remains of my fritillary today and didn't see any either. I'm worried I may be missing them.

I found some big fat grubs with a big yellow head i think it was its head lol, any ideals?

Yes T&T - I've got them back too. Found 1 or 2 last week and then on the weekend I found 4 all together - think it was some kind of mating ritual as they were all piled together on a leaf - I soon put a stop to all their hanky panky tho lol

Gee - yes I was wondering the same thing - perhaps GoY members could do a survey - what time of day are most lilly beetles found?

That's a good idea, Sid!

Yes i agree Spritz a great idea 2 do a survive as their not always present & u have to look in the Lilys Leafs to find them :/

Right then. Next time I spot one, I'll make a note of the time of day ;-)

Also maybe helpful to make a note of the weather conditions - eg do they appear after rain, on dry days or what?

I have so far found mine on the same lillie that is in a warm spot by a garage wall. Usually early afternoon when the sun is out.

Still checking the other lillies. They are obviously the young from eggs/larve from last year. You can get several generations in a year.

Keep on squishing.

Comments have given food for thought,pleased to say I haven,t found any this week and the ones I disposed of last week were in pots on patio which is the hottest spot in the garden as it gets sun from early morning until gone 4pm..So far none have appeared on pots in other areas of garden ...........

So far, so good. The only lilies they hit on are at one end of the garden, and my new lilies are still in pots by the greenhouse at the other end. I am keeping watch VERY carefully on those!

Since Killing The 2 i found iv not seen any more :)

No, I have 't found any more since the 4 the other week. They were the same brood maybe? SO, what have we got. Nobody has found any more beetles yet, but all those found so far have been on plants growing in particularly warm places. Mine were in a pot of lillies that are slightly shaded by a tree however - but maybe that's just an exception. More observations needed people! Get out there an' get squishing! lol

Since my lillies got Chomped Sarah theyv been in the Afternoon shade out of heat ? U may have a point in them likeing Heat /Warmth ?

Hopefully we'll get a better picture of what's going on when we've got some more observations Jac?

Wonder if we`l get more Goy members help as more Lilys open in their gardens Sarah ?

Probably, Jacque. My beetles were the exception to the rule - the lilies they chomped are shaded, growing in the ground. I haven't seen any more since the first lot...5, I think.

O well thats ruled shaded Lilys are safe out Spritz :(

I found another lillie beetle today. He was on his own and he was sat on the leaves of one of my Acers. The acer in question was above some Frittilaries that have come up blind. Last year these were the ones that first suffered from an attack of the little red wonders.

Cheek! Let's hope they don't get a taste for any other plants!

Found one! It was in the same pot of lillies at about 6:00pm. It duly met its end...

Found two more at 4.10 today. One on a frittilarie and one on a seperate lillie growing on its own by the greenhouse.

I could do with the birds helping to come and get them.

Found 2 more beetles today midafternoon same pot as before,very warm here again,I,ve checked other pots and pleased to say nothing found on them,I,m a bit reluctant to move this pot elsewhere as dont want to transport the pests elsewhere..........

Me too. another two today one on a lillie in the garden and one was in a pot full by the side of the greenhouse. As well as squishing them I am also looking under leaves for signs of eggs. So far so good.

Do birds eat them??? I would have thought that their colour was a warning to keep off for birds....????

I dont think they do. If they do, then they are rubbish at it.

a big thankyou trees and things and everyone on this blog brilliant answers looks like ill busy squishing the little bliters ive got rid of one six or so to go. did here that cigarette smoke also kills them if this is right, for anyone that smokes ??? many thanks for your help folks john726

has anyone from Scotland had lily beatles not that I want them I am just wondering how far up the country they are , so who is furthest North with lily beatles?

Would that be Lincslass in Lincolnshire?

I'm just north of Portsmouth, so it's definately not me.

I think thats right so far sid

That's another very interesting survey - I'd like to know how far north these blighters are. Come on, northerners! Please respond,even if it's a negative!

I too am in Lincolnshire. Had them last year.
This year, no sign yet, but I only have one growing in soil so far and the pots are only just coming up.

I shall report if I get them though.

I haven't seen any LBs for a while now.....have all sighting dried up then?

None here. :o)

Last one I found was last week. Hopefully got them before they managed to mate and lay eggs.

Ill keep on looking though.

None this week...so far!

Today I found my first Lillie beetle grub. Looked liked bird poo, hiding under a leaf.

YUK!!! Does that mean that you missed the beetle that did this??

I've never seen the grub - if you see another one could you maybe take a picture T&T?

Lilly Beetle Alert!! Spotted one of the red devils today perched bold-as-brass atop one of my lillies. It was 4:00 pm presactly. It duly met its end.....

Oooeerrr!!! Sid. Bummer.

Still none here. :o)

Found another one. About 9:00 pm yesterday on the same plant.

They are still around, Sid - not as many, but I'm on the alert every day...

Still finding them here on same pot as before,none on any others though,keeping fingers xx and checking daily....

Yes, these last two were in the same pot full....strange.

Oh, it's me again. Sorry about this T&T! It's just that today I was examining one of my lillies looking for beetles and instead found a blackish blob. I picked it up to find that hiding within it was a grub - I think this could be nothing other than a lilly beetle larva. I haven 't seen one before, but now I know what to look for I will be keeping a close eye out for them. Anyway, luckily it was a tall plant, so I could just bend down a bit to see under all the leaves - and there were LOADS of these yucky blobs - T&T is right, they do look like droppings of some sort and are really mucky to pick up. I carefully removed all these from this one plant and there was none on any of the others. Please everyone check your plants!!! You will find these blobs under the leaves. Look particularly under damaged leaves.

Definately the grubs. Keep a look out and keep squishing.

I can't bring myself to pick them up, Sid - I use some kitchen paper to wipe the leaves! I know - I'm a wimp!

Well, I started picking them off with my fingers, but they were just so GROSS that I picked a leaf off something else and squished them with that instead. Yuck. Think I got them all tho. There were loads. I was quite shocked.

Nasty, nasty. :-( I haven't seen any more beetles or grubs for a couple of weeks, thank goodness!

Still all clear in this part of Lincolnshire. :o)
I reckon I've got off lucky this year.

For all you squirmish people like me who dont like squashing lillie beetles there is a spray you can get from asda`s called ultimate bug killer it cost £5 or 3 for £10. I sprayed my plants yesterday and today they have all gone YIPEE