Lily Beetles

[llanon99]

Hello,
A couple of weeks ago my wife and I discovered Lily Beetles on our asiatic lily plants in our garden here in Coventry.

we have had a great time photographing them and their various stages of development form egg through nymph to pupation......

They devastated the plants however.......... just wondering how widespread these monsters are....... Do you have them in your garden?

View our images on WAB for photos of all stages of development.

They are fascinating to watch, if a little disgusting....

All comments welcome.


llanon99

[Pigeon feather]

I had a couple on my lillies when I lived in London, I presume a pair? I was wondering why my lillies were stunted with holes all over the leaves and flowers and on closer inspection found the little blighters! I must admit I did dispatch of them rather quickly and the lillies did recover. I didn't see anymore after that, don't think they're rare though are they

[jordanno]

lily beetles arnt rare their intrduced i think theyre speading now days and more common in the south i think but theyre not rare

[Kayleigh]

Don't talk about those little B*s I love my lilies. I have never grown them before I got 5 free bulbs about two years ago they are fantastic. They are the type they sell in florists giant ones. I keep picking them off and dispatching of them... But they are so colourful its a shame they do so much damage.

[llanon99]

we decided not to kill them, and to sacrifice our lillies so that we could watch and photograph their development......

The lillies are now devastated however :-) but the beetles are very pretty, once they get past the nymph stage where they carry a backpack of their own excrement for defence.

Seems to work for them, and I certainly would not wish to eat one :-)

llanon99

[Paul mabbott]

Originally Posted by Pigeon feather

I............ don't think they're rare though are they

Far from it
Royal Horticultural Society - Research Projects: Red Lily Beetle

[llanon99]

Originally Posted by Paul mabbott

Far from it
Royal Horticultural Society - Research Projects: Red Lily Beetle

Absolutely Paul, we knew that they were not a rare species and are in fact all too common these days, although the books are a little behind in this respect (some still indicate that they are not common).

To be honest the purpose of this thread was to find out what people tend to do with them (mass murder seems the general answer :-) )

We just found their life cycle to be fascinating, and as photographers we could not really resist them and their peculiar charms, we can buy new plants once they are gone.

llanon99