hi ho,
i found these on my Fritillaria meleagris or checkered lily leaves. http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/1088/index.html
i have 3 pictures, which seem to be 3 stages they go through.
my question is?
good or bad larvae?
i looked through several pages here and i was just to grossed out to keep looking for it. i'm definately not a bug person, but i sure do appreciate the knowledge of those of you who are.
debi z and franklin my little gardening doggi
pic #2
pic #3
debi, this is the dreaded Lily beetle. I have them, but managed to squash most of the beetles before they lay eggs but some get away. I usually find them though before they hatch.
I found one a couple of days ago nearly to the stage in your first picture, it still had a bit of goo on it but instead of excrement I think it was more of a clear jelly stuff. So far Ihave got 168 lily beetles this year, you need to check morning and evening, they come more when it turns warm.
The eggs are red, laid in strip of around 10. I took some pics this morning of the eggs, which turned out a little blurred, and a lot of small grubs with their excrement coverng.
Lily beetles eat Fritillarias too, they are a member of the lily family.
Eggs
Young grubs in excrement
The beetles often hide under the leaves, mostly near the top but when it's warm you can see them on top of the leaves. You need to put your hand under them before taking them off as they drop over the edge, upside down on the ground they are black and difficult to find.
Debi,
You need to contact your extension agent and see if your county has the Lily Beetle recorded and if it is spreading faster than what they think. As of right now, I believe the Lily Leaf Beetle is confined to MA RI, and CT, but I may be wrong and that might be old information. In lieu of that, you can probably find a map online. I think one of the Ag Universities up that way is working on bringing in their natural predators from Europe, but it is taking a long time to make sure the predators don't turn out to be a worse pest that the beetle itself.
Ask him/her for the suggested controls. As an aside, don't go into any lily bulb coops or buy any Lilium bulbs until you're sure you have them under control. I have heard real horror stories of entire plantings being decimated, and news from Rhode Island is they are hitting other genuses which has been a surprise to everybody.
Here is a faq from UMass...look at the photo, tho. It looks like a scarab beetle and yours (and the descriptions I have heard about) looks like a regular ladybug without spots. Or am I not seeing your photos well enough?
http://www.umassgreeninfo.org/fact_sheets/defoliators/lily_leaf_beetle.html
To answer the question in your subject line --These are BAD!
Suzy
I just found this looking for a bug on my Lilies...ick...I have them tooooooo
I am so sorry -- I know Lilium is a great flower for Canadian gardeners because they are so cold hardy -- Kill them, KILL them!
Suzy
Do ya have to squish em??? ewwwww......is there something out there that will kill the little beggars?
You could net them and then hold the net closed with your hand and put the bug on the ground and step on it?
PLEASE do a google search because the next phase is even more awful -- they put their excrement on their backs and carry it around with them.
Suzy
ewwwwwww
I found one today under a bottom leaf, just emerging from the 'excrement stage'
i can't believe i didn't know this. LOL i have been fighting these things for 3 or 4 years now. the thing is, is that when i first encountered them, they were in the excrement feeding phase and i don't remember having seen an orange larvae. plus it was on the fritillaria's and that confused me too. after one encounter with the excrement phase and they were all over my lilies, i diligently look for them first thing in the spring. i got them when my lilies were just a few inches out of the ground this year, sprayed and then had to spray again. i still have more to spray, but i'm still watching out for the beetles, while i wait for the rainy weather to subside long enough for the chemical to dry.
a lot of folks are no longer growing lily's, but they are my favorite flower, so i grow and spray. sure took away the ease of growing lilies though. :-(
from what i've read there is a wasp in europe that is a predator to the lily beetle they have had to import them, and try to find a strain that will live and work here. don't really understand a lot about that stuff. actually i learned more about the lily beetle than i ever wanted to know. i mean, how disgusting is it to carry around your crap on you. gross me right out. ugh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
thanks for the info. i'll be over spraying my fritillaria very soon.
debi z and franklin
It seems all the sprays that kill the things are banned here in Canada, so I have to squish them...well....actually, the beauty of having 3 gardeners in the house, is I can delegate the more unpleasant tasks to someone else..hehehe
3Gardeners,
I am pretty sure I read that Neem will do the trick. Why don't you Google Lily Beetle and Neem and see what they say? You don't want it to spread to other ornamentals!
Suzy
it is really essential to get the eggs too. i have known folks who have hand picked, probably not diligently, and the beetles were eating there lilies before they came out of the ground!!!! i don't like using sevin, but i love my lilies and i don't want to contribute to the spread of these things either. i even gave my neighbor some sevin for the lilies i'd given her. LOL
good luck with finding something you can use.
debi & franklin
p.s. i can't tell you home many beetles i've squished "doing it". LOL
debi, you had to mention beetles 'doing it'! I usually find a pair and a spare nearby. I decided last time I found a pair to take a pic, it almost seemed sinful to do that then squash them!
Oh well, sinful as it is, here they are, now squashed!
I have them, too. I hand pick them when ever I find them.
They are hard, but they can't stand up between a brick and a rock, lol.
Andy P
hey andy,
they make me so mad, that i can actually squish them with my fingers and i can't do that with any other bug. LOL i killed one today. but i couldn't find any larvae or eggs. thank you very much. :-)
debi & franklin
what are the two of you doing taking pictures of bugs doing it for anyhow? LOL
This message was edited Jun 13, 2007 4:10 PM
Well, um, I thought it might be a good one for bug files???????????
I shoot and ask questions later.
Andy P
yeah, yeah.........any more flimsy excuses?????
LOL ;-)
You get 2 bugs for the price of 1 ?????
LOL
Andy P
LOL sarah, any more?
wallaby?????????????your one behind sarah now.
I had a sizeable perennial garden in Montreal (Zone 5). I was new at gardening. In my 3rd year, I came to the conclusion that some plants gave me way more trouble they were worth.
Among the list were lilies with these lily beetles, hostas which were just a salad bar for slugs and ostrich ferns that the birds broke by perching on the fronds leaving a pitiful plant.
I decided on the spot that I didn't need problem plants so the next spring, I dug them all up and gave them to my horticultural society for sale upon some unsuspecting person in search of a good bargain. They sold quickly to fellow members who were delighted with their purchase. In the spirit of friendship, I was so glad for them.
Sylvain.
sylvain,
i would not have understood the thing about the slugs, but in my research i saw images of slugs, millipeads, etc in other parts of the country and was totally grossed out by there size. i too would stay clear of them. :-) i have a slug that is 1" long and i'm totally grossed out. definately not my favorite bug, if there is one. LOL
debi & franklin
only slugs i care to look at. now this is a cute slug. :-)
I think I am aiding the cause of artisitic science! Believe it or not.....
