lily leaf beetle

hi,
i've got me this beetle here in my yard, for the first time. i've been on the look out since i heard poppysue had them, and she is only about 5-6 hours away from me, hear in new england.
they are 3/8" long and have a bright scarlet body. the legs, head, underbodies and antennae's are black. they say they squeak if you squeeze them, but i have only heard the crunch when i've squeezed them. ;-)
the females lay orange eggs in an irregular line on the undersides of leaves. the eggs hatch in 7-10 days, into small sluglike larvae with swollen orange, brown, yellowish or greenish bodies and black heads. females lay up to 450 eggs, sometimes over 2 growing seasons.
larvae are distinctive and repulsive, in tht they secrete and carry their excrement on their backs, and effective deterrent to predators and to me! ;-) i call this the "gross factor". as the larvae matures, they can eat entire leaves and stems, and occasionally flowers. larvae feed for 16-24 days. they then enter the soil to pupate in a soil covered silken case. the winged adult emerges in 16-22 days and feed until fall. they do not mate or lay eggs until they emerge the following spring, in late march through june.

they overwinter in soil and plant debris, in gardens and woods. sometimes at quite a distance from the host plants. adults prefer shaded, protected, cool and moist environments.

control: a small amount of plants can be controlled with hand picking adults and eggs. but let's not forget the "gross factor"! ;-)
insecticides carbaryl (sevin) and malathion are effective on both adults and larvae. however, it must be used with care since it also is toxic to bees and many other non-target insects.
neem, is an organic alternative, sold under trade names such as turplex, azatin ec, margosan-O, align and bioNeem. kills the larvae and repels the adults. but is most effective on 1st stage larvae, thus it must be applied every 5-7 days after the eggs hatch.
the sysemic insecticide imidacloprid (merit) also provides effective control when applied to the soil in early spring.

there are currently no biological controls for the lily leaf beetle, here in the u.s.a. as of the writing of the article, i gathered this information from. the article is "lily leaf beetle spreads through new england" by richard a. casagrande. from the North American Lily Society, Quarterly Bulletin,june 1, 1999, vol. 53 no. 2

also in the article it spoke of 2 wasps they had gotten from france, where they were keeping the lily leaf beetle under natural controls. they were trying to get approval for there release here in the u.s.a. at the time of this writing.

well i'm off to check on the lilies that i just sprayed 2 days ago, before it rained 8 hours later, and we got 1" of rain. ugh. i'm hoping that they are all dead and i can move onto the other plants i have not yet sprayed.

debi z and my little buddy franklin

At least they're easy to see ;)

They seem to prefer my Asiatics over the Orientals. I had some small lilies I started from seed that they devoured and killed. I'm fearing for the new lilies I got from the co-op now. They're just starting to come up. I hope they'll leave them alone!

i just browsed another article from the north american lily society quarterly bulletin, june 1, 2003. vol 57 no.2
"Progress Report on lily leaf beetle research for the north american lily society" by Dr. richard a. casagrande, university of rhode island.
he reported that in june 2002 the parasitoid, Tetrastichus setifer, was established in the release plats set up in various locations in eastern new england. in other words, one of the wasp that likes to dine on the "gross factor" .
a parasite is: An organism that grows and feeds on a second organism. It contributes nothing to the survival of the host.

parasiticus
Meaning: From the Greek parasitos, meaning one who eats at the table of another
LOL i kinda like that term. i can't however, fathom why any insect or little creature would want to dine on the "gross factor" and its host, is beyond my comprehension, but i sure am glad that they do. :-) hopefully, in my reading i'll be able to pass on more good news like this to you all.

oh one more interesting bit of knowledge from there studies. the parasitoids are only attracted to the lily leaves that have been already damaged by feeding. they are not attracted to other plants or even to undamaged lilies or lilies that are damaged by other agents. they are attracted to the....you got it the "gross factor", otherwise known as excrement, doo doo, caa caa, the "s" word, and i'm sure there are many other words for it too. :) anyhoo, the parasitoids do not attack other insect species. they have a very limited dining pallet. :-) if you go to a local parasitoid restaurant, under lily leaf beetle section you'll find only one course offered.
the "gross factor" - uncooked doo doo served on a live lily leaf beetle larvae.
small portion: newborn 5 day old
medium portion: 8days old
large portion: 12 days old
xtra large portion for that really hungry parasitoid: the 16- 24 day old
now that i've really grossed you out......;-)
happy gardening,
debi z and my little gardening buddy franklin

since i don't have a pic of the beetle or what i'm sure you really want to see the "gross factor", i'll put one in of my cute little franklin instead, wearing his patriotic bandana on this memorial weekend. ;-)

hi sue,
i was just going to email you and ask you to put that picture here. thanks. i think you'll have to spray or squish if you don't want them to eat them up.
go get em girlfriend
debi z and franklin

Evert posted a picture of the gross factor awhile ago...
http://davesgarden.com/t/300876/

I've been spraying them as I see them. My lilies look okay so far. There's a few holes in the leaves but not too bad. I haven't seen any larvae yet. Just the adults so far.

i've killed about a dozen of the beetles. the larvae, was in all different stages, including freshly laid eggs on the petals i sprayed. one of my tanuifoliums looked absolutely horrid by the time i found it, it had only a few leaves and those nasty creatures were sucking on the last of them.
there are a lot of buds though , so i'll hopefully get to enjoy them this year.
the sevin did a really good job of killing the beetles and the larvae. i tried to squish the orange eggs i saw. do you know if the sevin will kill the eggs too?
i went around and sprayed them all. i'm hoping to have gotten the majority, so this is a one time affair. this year any how.
debi z and franklin

Hi,

I've been able to keep them pretty much under control by using neem once every week or so, depending on rainfall. However, I have a friend who had a more severe problem. The neem wasn't enough. So, she tried a Bayer systemic. Even so, the product did not provide long-lasting protection. The beetles were back within a few days.

I'm wondering if anyone else has found effective controls. It's never been much of a problem in my area--until this year.

I'm establishing a lily bed and have this problem too. I'm going to start my offensive with the big gun, carbaryl, at 5%. They are gross and I have squished enough of them. I'll report on results, and I hope others will, too.

These bulbs will go into the ground when ripe this fall...

Andy

Eeeeww, gross. Hope I don't get any of those disgusting things. I've had enough problems with Japanese beetles on anything that blooms; they're not picky in my yard. Haven't seen any in the last week, must be too hot for 'em. Heh heh heh.

I found my 88th Lily beetle today, the last 3 have been recent but there was a gap from the first onslaught, I was getting about 6 a day. It was having a nibble at the bud casing and had laid 2 lots of eggs (I hope). They seem to come when it gets really hot.

This is very beautiful beetle but enemy of rain lilies and other plant flowers.
Kaleem

And

my beetles came when the lilies were half grown, so i sprayed them with sevin. then i saw another batchful about when they were just full grown, so then i had to spray them again, for the new growth. i've killed a few since then, mid june, and i've seen quite a few holes in leaves and a few flowers.

guardians, they came into this country up around our way, the northeast, and they are spreading out more each year. unfortunately i believe they will reach your home in the future, but until then, enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

debi z