Lily Beetle

[mark smyth]

After reading about the lily beetle a late winter/early spring drench of Dursban, if you can find it, should sort out hibernating adults. This chemical will also kill Narcissus fly grubs. The active ingredient is chlorpyrifos which is also available as itself. A litre costs under £20 from agriultural suppliers http://home.howstuffworks.com/question440.htm

[gote]

They are in N Ireland also but as far as I know in County Down only.

What is the life cycle and what do they do during the winter?

In early spring I sometimes find them in the debris where Lilies grew in the previous summer. Like so many other insects they seem to hibernate in the topsoil.
Göte

[PDJ]

After reading about the lily beetle a late winter/early spring drench of Dursban, if you can find it, should sort out hibernating adults. This chemical will also kill Narcissus fly grubs. The active ingredient is chlorpyrifos which is also available as itself. A litre costs under £20 from agriultural suppliers http://home.howstuffworks.com/question440.htm

Dursban according to the EPA is linked to a number of serious health problems as given in the link.   http://www.pan-uk.org/pestnews/Issue/pn67/pn67p18a.htm  If you need to deal with Lily Beetle I find Provado Ultimate kills lily beetle easily enough.

[wooden shoe]

I have just seen the first lily beetle. It wasn't going to be a good year for this individual, I hope his friends are warned.

[Maggi Young]

I have just seen the first lily beetle. It wasn't going to be a good year for this individual, I hope his friends are warned.

Ha! Now we know what the wooden shoes are used for, Rob! 

[chasw]

I think we have destroyed about 40 so far of the little blighters,up considerably from last year

[hayley]

I spray with Provado and on the ones that get away we sometimes play a game ,the children get 10p for everyone they squash .The beetles are culled and the children  are happy

[Maggi Young]

...... on the ones that get away we sometimes play a game ,the children get 10p for everyone they squash .The beetles are culled and the children  are happy

Aha! A work/productivity incentive scheme for children in the garden.... I like it!

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Have'nt seen any so far over here...    have to remain vigilant though... 

[gote]

Killed three yesterday. Not on lilies. they are hardly up. I found them in the debris on the ground near lilies.
Göte

[chasw]

Hayley 10p what an incentive,when the sons were younger,a while ago now, I used to pay 1p for every Dandelion flower they collected,        ah well thats inflation for you

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Have'nt seen any so far over here...    have to remain vigilant though... 

Spoke to bluntly...  - killed 4 this morning ! 

[Lesley Cox]

I spray with Provado and on the ones that get away we sometimes play a game ,the children get 10p for everyone they squash .The beetles are culled and the children  are happy

Sounds like a sensible idea Hayley but it backfired on me some years ago when I first moved to Dunedin and into a house whose small garden had a couple of snails nestling on the roughcast wall. I offered the neighbour's children 10 cents for each they could put in a bucket. Over a couple of weeks they found enough to fill two buckets. Cost me a fortune. After that I started throwing the snails out onto the road where cars ran over them. In a few days the whole area smelled of rotting meat. If I hadn't gone through these two grizzly exercises I doubt if gardening would have been possible.

[hayley]

The bonus of them only being 6 and 7 they dont always realise they get 2 at once 
Its horrid realy but they realy enjoy hunting for them and its well worth a few pound for them to add to their money box , i win in the end as it get the job done and they can spend their own money when we eventually get a holiday

The things they do at times  ,the other day they put a snail on the shed door knob while i was potting up and they were seeing who could make it dizzy ,spinning the handle from the other side seeing who could do it the quickest .I did have to stop them when i found them poking its eyes every time i dared show its head from the shell .I do like them destroyed but i dont realy go for the long torture process

I dare not tell them what we used to do as children to dandy long legs !!!!!!