Red Lily Beetles..

Does anyone have any good ways of ridding this disgusting beast? This is the first year I've found them and they're eating all my potted lilies to the core!

 

I used to just pick them out by hand and crush them. Never got to a point where they were a real problem doing this. Welcome Sabina from Essex!!!!

BM

 

"Provado" is supposed to kill them, but I usually just pick them off, although it gets a bit messy if they manage to lay eggs and produce the grubs.
Then its a stick and wash your hands afterwards time. :D

 

Thanks Banana Man. I did do a search on them earler, and people had written that they picked them out by hand. How many have you found at one time ? I've got at least a 30-50 that I could see (alas I have a thing for lilies and so have many Red Beetles, too many to pick by hand unless I want to be there all day!)

 

Think perhaps I'll get me some of that Provado. I don't like using insecticides really, but as there are so many, perhaps it's the way forward for this situation.

thanks pete

 

No, :eek: I have never had that many, I would nuke the boogers with some Provado!

 

LOL!!! I love the animations Bananna Man! I'm glad you agree, at least I won't feel too heartless killing the buggers!

thanks a lot.

 

Cheers Sabina, I love animations as you have probably guessed. In fact I am a bit of a cheeky Essex monkey...
and most definitely a bit fruity...

BM :D :D :D

 

I planted lilys for the first time two years ago.

The first and second years they were smothered in beetles, and they killed off my new crown imperial fritilarias.

This year as soon as I saw them on my snakes head fritilaries I aprayed with provado, and when the lilies were about 6" tall I sprayed them.

I saw a couple of beetles on the lilies just before they flowered and killed them and sprayed with provado again.

I have no holes on the leaves and have no beetles.

Provado works.

 

This site describes the life cycle of the lily beetle:
http://www.rhs.org.uk/Learning/research/projects/lily_beetle.asp
It is helpful to know as then you can attack all stages of growth. As Rich says Provado does work but remember it will kill all insects including bees and also fish and frogs, so try to use it as sparingly as possible. The best time to spray is in April/ May when the beetles begin to emerge from the soil. If you spray the underside of the leaves where the eggs are laid, and the soil around the lilies, hopefully there will be only a few surviving and hand picking is then an option. I find that hosing the lilies will remove the disgusting larvae, and sifting through the soil for the pupae [like small grains of rice but dark coloured, and with the characteristic red colouration when squashed] and squashing them, protects the lilies quite well.
As there is usually only one generation each year, if you start at the beginning of one year and are persistant with checking you may be able to keep the beetles down to a few which you can hand pick, and not need to resort to Provado the next year.
As the adult beetles overwinter in the soil, sifting and squashing in Autumn will be effective in reducing numbers next spring.
I sprayed once with Provado to get numbers down. Now I have a few holes but not a lot and would rather put up with this than use such a powerful chemical repeatedly.
When I was in Cambridgeshire I never saw a lily beetle and did not know what they were: I don't think they are around much in Wilts. either but I imported mine with lilies from my Aunt in Shropshire.
Good luck with them!

 

I've had a lot of sucess with provado, but the nasty little critters will still live off other Liliaceae like day lilies, Convallaria, Fritillaries, and (unfortunately) so on. So it looks like Bayer are going to get rich.

 

If you grow a lot of one type of plant - especially in pots or greenhouses - then you are much more likely to get a build up of pests. That is because your mono-culture is like a great big flashing neon sign saying " Free Food - come and get it!" If you spray, then you will kill bees and the critters that eat the beetles. The adult beetles are far less likely to be harmed than the grubs which look like bird droppings. The hard chitin carapaces of adult beetles of all kinds are mighty tough and they are resilient animals - other insects (including beneficial ones) are much less so

I have to grow lilies in pots because my soil water logs in winter. This year I had two or three lily beetles and a few holes in the lily leaves. I did nothing and they vanished - presumably eaten. A healthy predator fauna of insects and birds will clean up pests. Spray the pests and you spray the predators. Once you have the adults, you might as well just hand pick. Best thing to do is wipe the leaves with soapy water when you first see the little "bird dropping" grubs.

 

Lovely photo's Hornbeam.I like your lilies, very nice colours.
We had two lily beetles last year that we hand picked off,then another two this year so they went the same way.
Our biggest bugbares are slugs the size of a mans finger in black and orange and snails,but our biggest pest is the dreaded vine weevil,that is causing havoc,with the grubs eating a wide range of plants.
We think the adults have come into the garden through plants that the landscapers put into the front garden of this new house before we moved in.I have to go out with a torch at night to spot the adults.Sometimes the spiders get to them first,before my size five shoe.

Kandy

 

Vine weevils can be treated with nematodes that you can get from Green Gardeners http://www.greengardener.co.uk/ They are not normally a pest in the garden because a healthy soil will contain nematodes and other predators. The problem comes with vine weevils in pots. As they can't fly, they can only crawl up and into your pots. Think about barriers like standing your pots in dishes of water or putting a band of grease or vaseline around the bases.

 

Thanks for that Hornbeam.I will look into the info,and see what I can do to combat them.

The soil in this new house consists of clay,chalk and flint,though we are doing our best to improve it, it takes time

Kandy