Lily beetles....aaaarrgghh

[askyourgran]

I just noticed them today. I have a large pot of oriental lillies, today I happened to see three of them, oh rather attractive I thought. Now Ive read that they can strip the plants to nothing in a few days. Will the trusty soap and water spray help. Has anyone had to deal with them?

[boxtops]

Pick 'em off, gran - they are easy enough to see, don't run the risk of one getting away.

[Nosha123]

I have! And cruel as it might seem... Pick them off and squash them! They will eat the flower!!!! U can buy lily beetle spray too to protect the plant ongoing!

[askyourgran]

Thanks I'll do that mainly because two of them were doing a jiggy jiggy and the other was watching, how disgusting can you get? I'm a bit squeamish though.

[boxtops]

Get a jamjar and put them in that, gran, with the lid on. That's what we do with our snails, it's not nice but there are hundreds of them. At least if they're in the jamjar they can't get at your lilies.

[rowanwitch]

normal bug spray doesn't touch them

[askyourgran]

I've picked about a dozen off this morning and squashed them, I'll have to invest in a spray. The thing is I have a clump of lillies with lots of buds on at the bottom of the garden which are clear of the beetles, possibly because they are next to a giant hosta plant (snail heaven). The infested lillies are in
a large garden tub. Just when I thought I'd got them all the was one waiting at the top of the plant when I watered them this evening.

[Exmothian]

If they successfully mate, you will find fat black larvae chewing the leaves. These are the lily destroyers, but they're a bit messy to pick and squash .... However it has to be done !
Slugs/snails had a field day with a potful of mine this year too , so the lily beetle isn't your only enemy!

[erin-x]

Are they green? I saw a little green beetle the other day and wondered what it was... I'd never seen one before.

[ladybirder]

Yep, get all the black mushy stuff off which can be on the underside of the leaves. So yucky. I gave up on lillies once the beetles arrived I couldn't cope with them. They'll be back every year now I'm afraid.

[roslyn251254]

No the lily beetle is red and "looks" attractive - we have a pair of pliers "on the ready" for squashing them!!!