Red lily beetle

Justagardener

I've squashed a lot of lily beetles and I've never heard them make a noise - maybe we have a non-squeaking strain round here. ***Thinks about torturing the next lily beetle to see if it will make a noise. Tempting, but decides against it.***

You may need your ear defenders for this poor lily beetle in Guantanamo bay:A
https://youtu.be/mnMwbBgV_D4

madjackslam

OK, tempting fate here, but has anyone else noticed that there are fewer lily beetles around this year? In fact, I've yet to see one, and my lilies will start flowering any day. Usually by this time I've been tapping and squishing for weeks.

Farway

Plenty here you can borrow if you are a bit short of them

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Justagardener wrote: »

A little known fact: Lily beetles squeak quite loudly when under stress...so some gardeners find it quite difficult to squash them ! They are easy to capture or scrape into a jar and release in an unpopulated area.

Don't you dare do that. The Lily Beetle is not an indigenous UK species and releasing it falls foul of the law, especially as people doing that could potentially be responsible for the extinction of native British Fritillaries.

Eenymeeny

madjackslam wrote: »

OK, tempting fate here, but has anyone else noticed that there are fewer lily beetles around this year? In fact, I've yet to see one, and my lilies will start flowering any day. Usually by this time I've been tapping and squishing for weeks.

Fingers crossed here too, madjackslam! I planted mine in a tub by the back door this year so that I could keep an eye on them. The first one has flowered this morning and as yet... (I did give them a spray with provado at the first sign of a nibble early in the season so maybe that helped)

olliebears

Just a point, I spray my lilies as soon as they sprout and once every ten days with......WD40 under the leaves where the eggs are laid and larvae hide. Eggs soak up the oil and tend not to hatch. Adults don't like the oily surface and I get lovely lilies. Though fewer beetles about this year anyway. Be aware it's not just lilies they eat!

Farway

olliebears wrote: »

Just a point, I spray my lilies as soon as they sprout and once every ten days with......WD40 under the leaves where the eggs are laid and larvae hide.

I bet they are rust free as well:D

Eenymeeny

Eenymeeny wrote: »

Fingers crossed here too, madjackslam! I planted mine in a tub by the back door this year so that I could keep an eye on them. The first one has flowered this morning and as yet... (I did give them a spray with provado at the first sign of a nibble early in the season so maybe that helped)

Like the rust-free comment, maybe I should be using it on some other plants!
Just thought that I'd update on my lily experiment. They've been absolutely beautiful this year. I don't know if that's down to the early spray of Provado thanks to the recommendation on this thread or maybe as someone else said, there are less of them this year? (I haven't seen one!)
The only disappointment was that I discovered them blown over a couple of days ago due to strong winds and being a bit top-heavy. They are now weighed down by a paving slab on the back of them... Will learn lessons for next year