It's interesting to see so many comments on lily beetles. I remember my excitement when I first saw one on moving to London 25 years ago. It was eating someone else's lilies and at the time I had no idea how ruinous it could be to these plants. This pretty beetle has undergone an astonishing change in Britain in the last 75 years. At the end of the 19th century, it was a very rare insect, an accidental import with horticultural good from the Continent. It remained scarce until the 1940s when it got a firm foothold in the Guildford area of Surrey. It then started to spread until it is now one of the most widely cursed garden pests.
We've been lucky this year and I have not seen a single beetle in the garden, but then we are growing far fewer lilies than a couple of years ago. I did see one earlier this year, but it was in Nunhead Cemetery. It was busy shredding a snakes-head fritillary that had obviously been planted in one of the woodland clearings.
I found several similar insect on my Swiss chard, but they were a dark murkey brown, I promised myself I would try and look it up but never got round to it. My Swiss chard plant has not looked good after that?
I am just reading comments about lily bug whilst surfing looking for reason why my laurel bushes leaves have turned brown. Last summer I killed numerous of these bugs which my children thought were ladybirds who had lost their spots, but taking the advice of the garden centre I use (farmer) he told me after the lilies had died, cut back and remove top layer (depending on size of pot)of compost and replace with new. This hopefully would get rid of larvae. Will post and let you know later this year if it worked
We live nr Ledbury in Herefordshire and have just started to find loads of the lily beetle,which my wife diligently picks off each one whenever she sees them. This is the first year that we have seen them. I found a website that said that Provado Ultimate bug killer will kill off the larvae. I don't like insecticides but I like lily's better. Will let you know of our success.
I first spotted this scarlet beetle this morning but I have a few.A very beautiful beetle no spots but not so nice holes in the lillies though.This is the first time i have encountered the lily beetle in Sandown IOW.
I am in Nova Scotia, Canada. Just noticed a few red bugs on my lilies last year. Just checked yesterday and they are full of them. My plants are already half gone and they are barely growing. What a pest!! I am not really good at picking them up or squishing them. I am not sure what pesticides are available in Canada. Looks like a trip to the nearest Garden centre. Anyone know of a good home remedy? Someone mentioned Murphy's Oil Soap and water????
It seems the lily beetle is still spreading. There is a provisional distribution map here, which shows that it is centred on Surrey, but will probably reach all parts of the UK eventually. I found the best way to keep them off my plants was to search for the eggs. A drift of 10 or 20 of them, pale pink, each about 0.5 to 0.7 mm high on the underside of a leaf. Just squish them. I only have half a dozen stems though. I pity anyone trying to keep them off a garden-load of lilies.
I have just been doing some research on the lily beetle as I have noticed in my garden for the past couple of weeks and had never seen it before! I have lived in East London for the past 5 years and this is the only time I have ever seen the damn things. Sure enough it is munching through my lillies as we speak I have been out spraying with Sunflower oil and it seems to do the trick they die pretty much straight away but I pick them off and stamp on them just incase!!
I live in Weston Super Mare and I have noticed this year that my lillies in pots are covered in this red 'bug' lady bird type, but all red with black head/legs - black type slimmy stuff on the leaves that are appearing to eat... any suggestions in how to get rid of them
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We've been lucky this year and I have not seen a single beetle in the garden, but then we are growing far fewer lilies than a couple of years ago. I did see one earlier this year, but it was in Nunhead Cemetery. It was busy shredding a snakes-head fritillary that had obviously been planted in one of the woodland clearings.