They are starting to emerge from the soil at this time of year. Wonderful time to squash them, before they've had a chance to reproduce or do any damage.

I was doing garden cleanup today and found three of those nasty things. They history now! (Squash!)

I know why it showed up today! This afternoon I received my ordrs from the Lily Nook and the Lily Garden.

It thought I had ordered out for it!

Anyway, I know they come out in spring, either from the maturing larvae OR overwintering adults (which I found and killed early under leaf litter last year far from any lilies)

Michael

That is horrible. I just went to some websites and saw pictures of the larvae with their 'excrement' on their backs. That'll put you off your feed.

I noticed today, cleaning up beds, that there were a bunch of baby bugs, red(ish) with black dots. Do these horrible lily beetles have black spots at all? The other thing I wonder is, there wouldn't be a swarm of these baby lily beetles now, would there? Especially since not a single one of my lilies has sprouted yet. The reason I wondered is that I thought the swarm of little bugs seemed a bit reddish for lady bugs (tend to be more orange here), and I got a little worried.

cnid

Cnid,

The lily beetle is unspotted - bright red above and black underneath and longer than it is wide. Because they drop from the plant at the slightest disturbance to land upside down on the soil they can be very hard to spot in a clump of stems - it's worth looking a clump over carefully before pouncing on the first one you see.

I bought some real tiger lilies ( the ones with multiple blooms and distintive black spots) last year with the knowledge of these pests. I expected them to come along sooner or latter but they never have.

My tiger lilies are pokeing up right now. All of them made it ( hopefully with babies in tow) which surprised me because it is very very dark in my back yard where they are. I figured if the bugs didn't kill them, the lack of hardly any sunshine would.

Am I just lucky?? I live in Connecticut and it certainly looks like the little brats have eaten all the wild ones in the woods.

Maybe they ate all the food they can eat and are starveing??

Lily beetles are more or less rectangular, and pure unspotted nail polish red. Like a little sports car... They're actually rather pretty bugs, but that doesn't stop me. *stomp*

We too have been plagued by the bright red lily beetles and the disgusting larvae which carry their excrement on their backs. The real answer to these pests is a product called Bayer Advanced Garden Rose and Flower Insect Killer! It really works!! We had to search several garden centers to find it. Rather expensive--$8.50 for 24 oz. pre-mixed spray bottle. Active ingredients are CYFLUTHRIN .003% and IMIDACLOPRID .012% I highly recommend it and hope it helps you also.

I too have the dreaded lily beetle already-my plants are barely out of the ground and they are eating it up--i heard neem oil works--anyone else heard of it and tried it??

PattyK,

I tried neem oil one year and it did not seem to work.

However, you are supposed to apply it early and weekly (which I did not do) as it is supposed to work better against the newly hatched larvae and possibly disrupt the adults feeding and egg laying ability.

I use the Bayer spray mentioned above. It is effective for about 25-30 days with one application. It is the only pesticide I use and I don't uses it anytime a plant is near flowering (it is toxic to bees)

I try to handpick as much as possible before I resort to the spray, but I have so many lilies now that that is becoming difficult. Just yesterday I applied the first spray to three groups of lilies behind the garage. There 4-5 RLLB on them and I found the orange eggs on the back of several leaves. The lilies are are still 'wrapped tight' so it is impossible to go into the stems and be sure I crushed all the eggs.

Michael

A letter in my gardening magazine said that rose dust works well. FWIW. The magazine does not verify readers' tips. And I have no idea about the toxicity of rose dust.

I have been battling these pests for five years now and while I still have a few, I feel like I am winning. I cannot use anything toxic as I have a well but I have been using the horticultural oil (NEEM is a brand name). I buy it at Home Depot, they sell "All Season Oil". This only works on the eggs and larvae not the adult. What it does is suffocate them. I squish the adults and spray the leaves for the eggs and larvae. I have killed six so far this year and we still have snow in places. The trick is to stay on top of them now and you will have less of a problem in the summer. Good luck.

RE rose dust. A gardening friend recommended, and I tried it - *very* gingerly, as it's toxic to bees and other insects.(I never use it near blooms of any kind) It definitely worked for me last summer. My lilies are about 4-5 inches up now,just unfurling leaves - and already I've spotted at least 15 of the little red devils on and around them. I squash the bugs as much as possible, and hate using poisonous stuff like rose dust, but I find that a round of it early on puts enough of the pests down that I can keep pretty much on top of the remaining ones by squishing after that.
And now they are after my fritillaries (snake's head) as well! I have read that fritillaires are the other plant they like nearly as much as lilies. I caught 4 of them on the fritillaries this AM, and removed one leaf with eggs all over it.

I was at a garden show recently and was told to use 1 part ammonia and 10 parts water around the base of the lily plant. I haven't tried it yet but definitely will give it a shot.

A friend of mine just told me that rose dust, if it contains rotenone, could be associated with Parkinsons disease. I checked this out on several web sites and it sounds like it could be true. (Bad enough that it's bad for the bees- now this!) I plan to check the stuff I have been using - even if very sparingly. If it has rotenone, I guess I will not be using it - then will have to figure out how to get rid of it :-(
I'm going to try that ammonia suggestion, too. After weeks of rain, the sun came out here today, and all the lily beetles with it. Must have seen a dozen of them, and didn't have my gloves with me for squashing the first time I was out.

Well, they finally got to me. I live in Sabattus, Maine, about 45 miles north of Portland, Maine. I have noticed the beetles on my lilies in the back yard in my shade garden, however the lilies out front in the bright sun are not bothered yet. I am keeping a close eye on them and check them everyday. I will certainly try some of the suggestions here for containing them.

I have a couple Casablanca lilies potted and just sprouting through the soil this week. I haven't seen RLLB (yet), but now after reading all this I'm starting to get worried. Not just for the lilies ... but b/c the pot is right outside my front door, on a concrete stair-raised landing. I've already found other critters in my house, and I certainly don't want these inside.

Should I take preventive steps now?

I also have ORTHO-MAX (in the red bottle) for gardens and ornamentals, but I can buy the Bayer bottle if it makes a difference.

So far, I've spotted 2 of the beetles. I've just discovered, and confirmed what they are. I'm surprised to see them in Southern California. Now, I'm frantically looking for more to squash, yuk.

I've never worried about my lilies ... until this year. I thought the beetles were maybe spotless lady bugs, but the other stuff (bleeagh!) has appeared, and my poor lilies are quickly being destroyed. After I apply the Bayer remedy mentioned here, I'm wondering if this is a pest that will be troubling me for years to come. I'm getting that idea from some of the posts.

I've been dealing with these red babies for a couple weeks not knowing what they were. They have totally destroyed some of my lily plants with just the stem still there. I'm pretty new to this and was wondering what I should do first thing in the season to prevent this from happening again. I have to be careful because I don't want to hurt the birds or squirrels. I'm trying to incorporate a natural setting in my garden. Thanks

use seven,dust or spray it will kill them off.

I've been picking for 3 days. That doesn't mean they weren't her before, just that the weather was too awful. This handpicking bit is getting to be a bit tedious! Any suggestions?? My garden guro sold me something containing .5% Lambda-Cyhalotrin. It doesn't specifically mention lily beetles and the badies are numerous. It seems NEEM is the recommended chemical??

I spotted a red beetle in my sister-in-law's garden.She told me that the beetle that I saw in her garden was killing the lillies in my flower garden.I getting ready to attack these "buggers" ! I'll probably try what is least harmful to the environment,first.

Sighted in Phoenix, New York @ 12:30PM. First sighting ever!

I use hand to hand combat against lily beetles early in the season and then switch to Ortho's Flower and Vegetable Insect Killer when everything is starting to bud. Works on lily and Japanese beetles.

I've been through it all - tried hand-picking them, sprayed a couple of times, etc, and after 3 seasons of decimated lillies, I actively dug many bulbs out and threw them away. Last Spring/Summer'14, after I had done a lot of web-searching, I began watering with a spinosad solution once the tips emerged. I watered them with either a spinosad or neem solution every 5-8 days, RELIGIOUSLY, and my lillies all did well. These beetles reproduce like crazy, so you really need to treat at least weekly!!! Water the soil AND the leaves (especially the underside of the leaves) with the treatment solution.