Galanthus March - April2007

[mark smyth]

very easy. They look like a cross between a bumble bee and a blow fly. They come in three colour forms - black, black and cream/yellow, fawn. They are the size of a blow fly but move differently flying close to the ground like a queen bee would. They frequently sun bathe on rocks or large leaves

[mark smyth]

just dont hit the friendly hover flies

[David Nicholson]

Thanks, I now know what to aim at.

[Maggi Young]

David, see this page on old forum for info, also other pages will come up in the old forum search.
http://www.srgc.org.uk/discus/messages/283/19423.html

Here are Mark's pix from that page:
Narcissus fly


Grub in Bulb


Holes left in bulbs


Narcissus fly grubs

[David Nicholson]

No! I'm frightened now!!!!

[Martin Baxendale]

David, narcissus flies also make a very distinctive high-pitched whining sound as they fly, quite unlike the drone of a bee or the buzz of a fly. You often hear them before you see them. It's a sort of high-pitched eeeeeeeeee sound. The narcissus flies also land on leaves a lot in the sun, and take a lot of interest in bulb foliage, rather than flowers like the bees. You'll often see them trying to mate with bees and being rebuffed. When they find another narcissus fly to mate with, the two of them make an even louder whining noise, which helps with locating and whacking them.

[Brian Ellis]

Thanks all for the timely warning.  I shall be whacking like a good 'un in between chasing rabbits, pheasants, moles and squashing the dreaded lily beetles.  After all that I hope to do some gardening.

[Lesley Cox]

I had a chat with Don Schofield from Mt Tomah, whose garden is `Winterwood.' He sent bulbs of G. n. `Atkinsii' to Marcus Harvey who selected and named `Winterwood' but Don himself thinks it is neither different from nor better than straight `Atkinsii.' At best, very marginally taller. He also says that the `Rabbit Ears' (from Michael Carle) referred to a split spathe and is, in fact just G. n. `Scharlockii.' When it produced just 2 petals at one stage, the `Rabbit Ears' name was applied but since then it has produced 3 petals, as normal. Storm in a teacup.

[rob krejzl]

Lesley,

Since you've recently seen Marcus, did you have the opportunity to ask him why he thought 'Winterwood' was worth naming?

[Lesley Cox]

No I didn't ask specifically, but Don's impression was that it was another name for the bulb list. I bought 3 bulbs last year from Marcus and didn't feel they were much different, but I'll have another look this year. Mine are still in a pot though and should be planted out before assessing them.

It's worth noting though, that Don is very modest regarding his own achievments.

[Armin]

Hello,
there's not only the threat of Narcissus-flies for bulbs.

I have annual visit in spring from scarlet lily beetle (Lilioceris lilii). Looks very beautiful and lovely but can become a pest if left unwatched. It favourably eats the stems, leaves, buds and flowers of lilies, fritillaries and other plants in the Liliaceae family. Typically they do not fly off when trying to pick one up. Their escape tactics instead is to suddenly let themselves fall down. Quite often then they can hide quickly on the ground. The next day you can find them sitting on the leaves again.

The picture is from 2005 but this year I have already eliminated ~30 beetles on just two stems of Lilium martagon! Fortunately before they layed eggs under the leaves and major damage happened.

[Maggi Young]

Glad to hear your "hunting" is going well, Armin. I hope you catch many more!

[mark smyth]

I feel good! They are flying so late this year

[annew]

Attaboy!

[mark smyth]

hopefully they are/were the last. None flying today