I was using some light mix with neem but it did not work out. I had at least 10 beetles on each of my fritalaria the other day. I used Seven. :-0

Dead now!

:-0

I don't really like to use Seven that much, but the plants were just so covered with beetles. My neighbor came over and wanted to know what I used. I offered the bottle and he has beetle free plants now too.

I recall someone writing to me that he has three words for the beetle treatments.

Seven, seven, seven.

Lol. I remember that now.

:-0

I have some old Sevin that I applied as a soil drench a few weeks ago to emerging bulbs. I hope it worked. I don't know how long a shelf life it has and I only use it on the lilies in spring.

Well...this is my first posting on the site this season...and of course it is about that dastardly red bug. I am done with picking them off and Neem....my lilies are barely out of the ground this year and full of holes and the critters are having a party all over them. I think I am going the Sevin route. I am completely organic everywhere else in the garden, but it's either this or pull up the lilies. I just worry my dogs will lick the Sevin and get sick. Hmmm...maybe I will compost the lilies after all. I don't know. I just can't stand the lily leaf beetle!!! argh!

weedsmakemecrazy... try a soil drench rather than a foliar spray. THe foliar spray when they are emerging is only going to be temporary as the plants continue to grow and generate more foliage. The soil drench gets them where they hang out and seems safer to me.

Another reason to drench the soil rather than spray with sevin is that this pesticide is bad news for bees. And you can't have a good garden without pollinators.

I was at a friend's this moring, and as I was leaving she said, "Ooh, look, my lilies are up!" I walked over to the end of the driveway, and her lilies were covered in these orange/red bugs. My heart sank. Not only for her lilies, but I only live about two miles away, so I know they're around here. I sure hope they don't discover my yard.

Dee

Nothing so far around the Billerica area, but then again, most of my neighborhood had done what I did; dig them all up and get rid of them.

It was just too much time to pic them off and infestations where so bad that we all just decided to get rid of them and replace the plants with something else that didn't have this problem.

So nice to not have to deal with it or be concerned with pesticides as well.

Just to many other plants and flowers to grow that don't have the problem.

At first I missed my Lilies, but not any more.

Fran

I love my crown impearial fritalaria! I am going to try a systemic next time. You are right though, I do not like to use pesticides but this one finally put me over that line.

Rats! I spotted those darn beetles in MY lilies today! At least they were only in one area of the garden. Maybe they won't discover that I have lilies in other parts of my yard!

:)
Dee

Good Luck Dee. For a few years, they didn't find my lilies in the front yard, but they did this year. Yep...I'm with Fran. Digging them all up and replacing them. I didn't realize that Sevin was bad for bees and I have two hives in my yard, so that's not going to do.
Kathy

I had these beetles on one of my lilies. This is what I did to remove them: I picked off the beetles with tweezers and put them into a bucket of soapy water to kill them. Then, to stop the cycle, if you look under the leaves of the plant you will find orange-brown eggs. Pick off the eggs or the whole leaf. I did this 3 days ago and haven't seen a beetle since. They only mate in the spring, so if you can stop them early you won't have a really bad problem. Just keep an eye on it every so often to check that a new family hasn't moved in.

Oh, forgot to mention. The bugs hibernate in the ground over the winter, so replacing plants will not stop the problem long-term.

But I don't wanna take out my lilies! Wah! As a matter of fact, I just bought a whole mess of them last year and more coming this year. Sigh.

And I detest touching bugs. I squished a few yesterday, but saw some more today when I was coming home and was garden-gloveless. I flicked them, lol, which I know won't do any good, but it made me feel better than just walking on by.

:)
Dee

Lol. Gardening and bugs sort of go hand and hand. Some bugs you love and some have to go. Perhaps they will develop special bug tools for you Dee.

Last year I handpicked the beetles every day. I handpicked up to 20 a day but it tapered down over time. This year, I have way too many on the plants to do that. I had Sevin so I used it when I walked out to the garden and was overwhelmed by the orange beetles covering the plants! I do agree, however, that Seven can be bad for those bugs we love and want.

This is from the link given:

"Management
If your customers only have a few plants in their garden, hand-picking adults and eggs can be effective. For more than a few susceptible plants, pesticide treatments may be needed. Products containing Neem (Bon-Neem, Azatin), a botanical insecticide, have been shown to kill very young larvae but must be applied every five to seven days after egg hatch. Products containing the systemic imidacloprid are reportedly providing effective control applied either as a foliage spray or soil drench depending on label instructions. Imidacloprid is the active ingredient in Marathon, used by commercial flower growers, Merit, used by landscapers and home gardeners and one of the active ingredients in Bayer Advanced Rose and Flower Insect Killer for home gardeners. There are also other home gardener formulations containing imidacloprid. Products containing spinosad a microbial insecticide, may also be effective. Spinosad is sold as Conserve and Entrust for commercial growers and Monterey Garden Insect Spray, BULL'S-EYEÂ and others. Before recommending a product or applying any pesticide, READ THE LABEL and apply only as directed on the label."

I may try imidacloprid next if I get another outbreak. So far the plants have been clear since the original spraying.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lily Leaf Beetle, Pest Management

Many people here, including myself, have had great experiences using Bayer Advanced Rose and Flower spray, and other products containing imidacloprid. There's also some evidence that the parasitic wasp that was released in MA is beginning to have an effect, at least in SE MA. Last year I only had a few beetles and only sprayed once.

How do I keep the red lily leaf beetle from destroying my lilies?

Claire

I just checked and my lilies are now up and out of the ground; some of them almost 12 inches high. There are NO, I repeat NO, beetles on them! I haven't sprayed this year, and I don't think I used a soil drench last fall.

Granted, this is not a hot spot neighborhood with lots of gardens nearby, but I did have many beetles in the past.

What it suggests to me is hang on for a few years! You don't have to rip out all your lilies - just treat them for now, and the wasps will take over.

Claire

I don't have any bugs on my lilies either now Claire! LOL!

I like the way you did it better though. :)

Thanks for the good news. I will hang in a couple of more years.

east hampton,ct.....never grew frittillaria before,gorgeous!!! oh dear, what are those red bugs ive never seen before? lily leaf beetles.....ok i handpicked and scooped them into vaseline...end of april 2009

I got an email from someone in Rochester, NY who reports red lily leaf beetles were found today (May 5) on lilies, and the identification was confirmed by a local garden supply. First sighting in that area of upstate NY.

Claire

i have to say that the foul red leaf-munchers are acting a tad wussier than i expected ... i enthusiastically squish one or two every morning but, so far, they aren't staging as big of a leaf-chompin', fornicatin', plant-decimatin' poo fest as they did last year. i haven't even been moved to neem the crap out of them yet. of course, the rarer martagons are only about four inches tall ... once the the disgusting red vermin get a taste of those, they will no doubt sound the trumpets & rally all their heinous red friends to commit unspeakable acts.

sigh.

I haven't seen any this year either...very strange!

squished one today on a fritillaria.

sigh.

I actually saw a few about three days ago. And my lilies are only about an inch out of the ground!

I kept reminding myself to do something before they emerged. I guess they are better at keeping on schedule than I am, lol.

Sigh...

:(
Dee

Dee,
You reported them on April 30, in 09. Either they are nearly a month earlier, or you are out in the garden earlier. Perhaps a combination of both?

Im sure this warm weather and wet spring has speeded up the eco-metabolism.
mt

It must be that they are earlier - I make the rounds of the garden weekly all year. I think the unusually warm weather has made them start up earlier.

:)
Dee

Four found today here in Boston -- on the leaf of a tulip. They didn't seem to be eating the leaf, though, probably waiting to munch on the tiger lilies that have barely begun to emerge nearby. In my garden, they like tiger lilies best!

Can one buy these parasitic wasps? Do they sting???? I'm petrified of wasps, but maybe I'll get over my fear to save my tiger lilies. Are there multiple types of parasitic wasps? I've seen some for sale that prey on horse flies, but I imagine those are a different species.

I'm glad I have only the small patch of tiger lilies and all the rest are (immune) daylilies.

Drat! This is the third day in a row that I've stopped at the grocery store to buy ammonia and have forgotten it!

I keep eyeing the old bottle of Lys*l under the sink, lol....

:)
Dee

Maybe I should start a new thread for this, but I thought I'd give it a try here first.

Okay, I finally got my ammonia, and mixed up a big batch of 10% solution. But when I got outside, I realized I've never actually done a soil drench. So I have some questions.

So, just how much does the soil need to be drenched? And for how far around the lilies?

Also, can someone tell me how often this should be repeated? If the adults were to lay new eggs this afternoon in the soil, would there be enough ammonia in the soil to prevent hatching, or do I need to do this drench fairly often?

I also realized that I guess I just can't get around the fact that sooner or later I WILL have to squish, won't I? Yuck. As long as there are still adults out there they will be doing their thing and laying more eggs....

I did do a search on the ammonia drench, but couldn't find much information - as a matter of fact, AFTER I did the soil drench, I did the search and could mostly only find references to spraying the 10% ammonia solution, not using as a drench. I'm hoping that since I am doing it before the lilies are really up, that I can keep more potential adults from laying eggs on the leaves, but I guess if I don't squish accordingly, I may have to spray the leaves down the road also, right?

Thanks!
Dee

Oh, no, I found 3 yesterday!

I'm not sure about the ammonia drench process, maybe someone else knows? I use just 2 nasty chemicals in my garden. One, I have the tree guys spray my giant old flowering dogwoods--can't bear to let them die. And two, I use the Bayer rose pest spray on my lilies. It totally eradicates the red lily beetle. My lilies are so spread out around my yard, it is hard to keep up with just squishing them by hand. I do feel guilty, but I have given in to chemicals for this. Maybe next year I'll just let my lilies die. I'm hoping that there is a natural predator being identified, to rescue us!

first one observed in ida's garden, on a tiny frittilaria. Killed it dead by squeezing.
mt

Marie, do I detect a hint of eee-vill relish in that last statement...? (You seem to have forgotten to write in your villainous laugh - bwa-ha-ha! - so I'm not sure. Perhaps you were too busy gleefully rubbing your hands together to type it...?)

;)
Dee

No, my hands were just covered with beetle juice

Oh, well, that's no fun, lol. If we at least have to do that disgusting squishing thing, we might as well get some reveng-, er, fun, out of it.

:)
Dee

dd,
I didn't say I wasn't feeling vengeful, just couldn't type because my hands had beetle blood on em. I was feeling royally pissed.
mt

I took a day off last week (April 7) and spotted a bunch of them! I have never seen them this early - And they have already done damage to the little bit of the lily plants that are up. Every year I say I'm going to get rid of the lilies, but I never have the heart to do it. This might be the year. It's interesting that they seems to have a preference for certain lilies in my yard - has anyone else noticed this?

Saw my first one of this year today...latest they've ever arruved,

I did a RLLBeetle search this morning and only found three. That seems really great to me after a week of not looking at all. There were also bottom leaves with holes and eggs on the underside that I just removed and threw out. At least for awhile, I feel like I'm on top of it. Next year it will be another story, I'm sure. [g]

I found the first one yesterday.
Southern Vermont

squished one today on a lily.

sigh.

People say things are running late this year. None here yet, but everyone will know when they are.
mt

I checked mine yesterday, thanks to the reminder of this thread. No sign of any here yet either and my Lily foliage is up about 6 inches.

Darn! First sighting here yesterday. Sigh...

Dee

That's three sightings reported so far this year, two in MA and one in CT. Pixie_lou reported one in MA on another thread so I entered it in the FAQ. Most of my lilies aren't up, just one maybe coming into view, so nothing to attract the beetles yet.

Claire

I normally have had red lily beetles as soon as there is foliage. Mine are up about 6 inches already but no holes in the foliage yet. I was pretty vigilant on RLLB patrol last year, so I'm hoping at least their numbers will be less this year.

I found them on my plants 4/22...not happy! I'm in CT.

Today I saw two: one at the base of emerging lily foliage the other on the small fritalaria.
sigh.
Marie

do these get up to Northern Maine? I am new to lilies and don't want to lose all my lilies before I even get started.

I first found them in my garden in 2009. I used imidacloprid, but now I hear that it is implicated in bee death also (AFTER I had applied it this spring.) I guess I'll try squishing and Neem.

Martha
Vinalhaven

Just had my first run-in with them. I remembered this post, and when I saw a bright red beetle on a plant (this is an established garden whose house we bought, and moved into in February), I checked online. Looks like the same thing. Grabbed all the ones I could find (non-aggressive, apparently), and squished them.

Haven't yet checked for eggs, as I'm not clear on what to look for. However, I saw multiple pairs apparently mating, so they may not have had a chance to lay yet.

Die, bright red beetle, die!

Suzanne