lily beetles

[bugzgrl]

Hello everyone, I am an entomologist (bug scientist) interesting in tracking the spread of a nasty ornamental lily pest called the lily leaf beetle (or scarlet lily beetle). It's a small (5-8mm) bright red beetle with black legs, head and antennae. There are no spots or markings on the red body. If anyone, particularly in Canada or the U.S.A., has spotted this critter in their garden in the past, I would greatly appreciate some information: your location (city, state/province, postal/zip code) and the year that you found it. Feel free to include any tidbits of info (for example, the species you found it on) that you think might be useful. I plan to present some information about this pest at the North American Lily Society meeting in Edmonton and would like to have some recent statistics to accompany the talk. I recently completed my M.Sc. thesis about the lily beetle at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario. If anyone has any sightings to report, or has any questions regarding the beetle or my work, please contact me at [e-mail]. Thanking you in advance, Crystal Ernst

[Timothy]

Good day Crystal, you may want to contact the Entomological Society of Ontario. Tim Haye of Christian-Albrechts University released a paper on the biological control of Lilioceris lilii and you may get lucky and get access to an up to date distribution map. At the very least they should be able to point you in the right direction.

University of Rhode Island has done a lot of work on Lilioceris lilii and they may have a map also. Well worth your time to contact them and see what they have.

[Ann]

"bugzgrl" expounded:

They've been in my garden since 1996 - but then again, I'm within 20 miles of their origin here in Massachusetts - lucky me :o(

[Cheryl Isaak]

I think the beetles arrived within in 2 years of that here. Maybe one!

Until there is a better solution then hand picking, I give up on lilies. Not my daylilies that are, thankfully unaffected, but glory days of scent are gone her.

Cheryl

[Sue Burnham]

I'm with you, Cheryl.

IN 1995 I started a home nursery, and I was having some great fun selling bunches of flowers along with produce at our Farmers Market. In June and July of '96 and '97 I was pocketing some good weekend change when the Lilies were in bloom. One stalk of Rubrums in a mixed bouquet... YEE HAH! I had "colonies" -- and was adding more.

In 1997 I saw my first Lily Beetle.

The only bulb lilies that live here anymore are some weedy L. tigridium that I am rouging out, and one L. Superbum that doesn't seem to be the least attractive to the Lily Beetle.

All the rest are gone, and I'm not replacing them. I miss them dearly.

Sue Western Maine.

[Ann]

Cheryl Isaak expounded:

Yea, the little bastages ate all of my species lilies I'd collected over years and years, along with the fritillarias. They're still out there in the summer munching on whatever stragglers come up. I've given up lilies completely :o( Hopefully someday they'll come up with something that really works.

[Cheryl Isaak]

I'll take those - the moles got my "tiger lilies" and I miss them a bunch. They remind me of my grandmother's garden.

Cheryl