Lily leaf beetle ( Lilioceris lilii ) are an extremely destructive pest of true lilies . Attacking all mintage of lily , admit Oriental , Asiatic and Easter lilies , the lily leaf mallet was introduced to North America from Europe in the forties . First discovered in Canada , this ruby , ellipse beetle has made its way down into New England and might be spreading south .
What Do Lily Leaf Beetles Eat?
Lily leafage mallet feed on the leave-taking of all species of true lily , but they also fertilize on springiness - blossom Fritillaria flora as well as lily of the valley , hollyhocksand a handful of other plants . But , the plants that are prone to the highest levels of impairment are the lily . One affair worth remark , though , is that lily leafage beetle do not attackdayliliesas they are not in the species Lilium , but rather Hemerocallis .
What Do Lily Leaf Beetles Look Like?
big lily folio beetles are bright red , ellipse - mold and about 1/2 inch long . Their legs and antennae are black . The eggs are orange and laid in rows along the undersides of lily foliage . They ’re typically found in May .
shortly , the larvae hatching . Larvae are fat and lick - like . They ’re typically orangish , brown or sensationalistic with blackened oral sex . The larvae are often found clump together at leaf ends , nibbling on the leafage .
How Do Lily Leaf Beetles Damage Plants?
Lily foliage beetle overwinter as adults . No sooner do the lily flora begin to egress from the dirt when this pest begins to feed on the foliage . Upon hatching , the larvae feed on lily foliage , too , stimulate ragged parting . As the larvae feed , they pile their own excretory product onto their backs ( gross ! ) to help camouflage and protect them from marauder .
The larval phase of the lily folio beetle lasts for two to three weeks before the larvae drop to the soil and pupate underground . Two or three weeks later , the adult beetles come forth . This generation continues to eat throughout the relief of the season before overwintering , typically in a sheltered site , soil , or in works dust a few XII feet away from their host plant .
How to Control Lily Leaf Beetles
Both the adult and larval lily leaf beetle are slow moving and easy to handpick . It ’s also easy to spot the line of orangish eggs on leaf bottom in the late give and scrape them off the plants to destroy them .
In post where hand - picking is n’t possible , organic pesticides based onspinosadare highly effective against these leaf - crunch cuss . Neem - base constituent pesticides are also effective , but primarily against the untested larvae , not the adults . Both of these pesticide can negatively impactpollinators , so be certain to keep abreast all recording label instructions and do not apply them when pollinators are fighting .
There is also abiocontrolplan in place to tackle the lily folio beetle . Several horde - specific mintage of parasitic wasps have been introduced into North America to control the lily folio mallet in New England and Canada with good resultant . These parasitic white Anglo-Saxon Protestant round only the lily leaf beetle and have now spread throughout several regions , ply honest dominance .
