I removed all the lilies from the garden. While they are beautiful and smell wonderful, the beetles were just too much to keep up with. And if you can believe it, during the years when I was able to keep the beetles at bay, the chipmunks would shimmy up the lilies, bite off and eat the buds!! ARGH!! LOL!! I finally threw up the white flag and thus, all the lilies became compost!

I found my first lily beetle last Saturday, April 19. It was the first day of my vacation and I spent every day last week checking my lilies periodically and picking lily beetles off my plants! I put them in a covered container filled with water and dish detergent that I keep in the garden - something I read on the internet. I even dug around the plant and found them in the soil! So far, I am winning the battle - and strangely they have only attacked 4 lilies which are all part of the same plant and I have about 10 different lilies out there. Not sure what that is all about, but I have vowed that if I can't win the battle this year, I am also getting rid of all of my lily plants - which a shame because they are so pretty. One thing I have noticed - I have two lilies in containers on my deck - they come back every year - bigger each season - and the beetles have never touched them. So that might something to try if you love lilies but can't deal with the work of picking off the beetles which is such a disgusting job!!!
Kathy

On Sunday, I noticed the first pair mating on a stray lily in an oddball place in the yard. I smushed them promptly.

However, there haven't been any on the patch of Lilies in the garden. MAYBE this is because I took a cigarette and broke up the tobacco and sprinkled it all around the base of the Lilies. Tobacco is a natural pesticide, so I thought it might work its way into the soil and kill or repel the LLBs without harming the Lilies or the pollinators or anything.

I'm an organic gardener and would shovel-prune the Lilies before I would use a toxic chemical. But so far so good - no sign of LLBs.

Kathy/weedsmakemecrazy: Could you say what region you're in? April 19 is the earliest sighting this year, and I'd like to record it.

Thanks,
Claire

I wonder why they state not to muck around with those little mud pups. (Those disgusting larvae that excrete all over themselves that look like dirt bumps all over your plants.) I pick them off with a stick and smush them between rocks.

There's no particular reason not to "muck around with those little mud pups" except that most people would rather not. Scraping them off and smushing them is good...

Claire

Hey Claire:
I am in North Waltham, MA - pretty close to the Lexington border.
I think that I have a particularly bad case of the lily beetle over here. I'm a fairly new gardener...at least with flowers...and the first two years, I wasn't sure what was going on with my lilies - by the time they bloomed, it looked like someone lit a match to their foiliage it was that awful! Once I did my research on the internet, I figured out that it was damage due to the lily beetle. Now I keep regular vigilance!
In addition to seeing the beetle early this year, my lilies also seemed to pop up earlier this year...? Not sure why since it was such a cold spring, but I guess there were a few days of warmer temps.
As far as those awful nasty brownish larvae...I just glove up and scrape them off. I also check the underside of each leaf...and I have a lot of lilies...for any of those orange egg clusters. I have dogs and I am often out in the yard with them...so I do this several times a day every time I am outside. I also dig all around the soil and find them there. Yes...I know what you are all thinking....the lily beetle has made me nuts. I think it has - my neighbor certainly thinks so. She actually asked me last week what was going on in my garden - every time I went out with the dogs I was kneeling down by each lily and checking them out and she couldn't figure out what I was doing all day.
So...if I don't clear out this problem this year, the lilies go - or my neighbor will commit me :) But so far, though it has been ALOT of work, I think I am winning. The lilies look better than ever (they have only attacked one lily) and maybe I will get rid of them for good...I hope!
good luck to all of you and those nasty orange bugs!
Kathy

I am sure I saw one earlier than the 19th in Malden, but am not certain of the exact date. Not much earlier maybe a day or so. Hopefully it was written down in garden journal.

Kathy..... your doing a good job on them and there will probaly be a respite in their appearences...until they FLY in after hatching and breeding on someone eles lilies...

I switched to the Bayer rose spray like Clair after trying to hand pick them for a couple of years. I also use it for black vine weevils which also like the lilies.

Neighbor found them in the lowell/billerica area on April 15th. Friend in Burlington has a heavy infestation this year as of April 17th.

I dug up all of mine and bagged them with the leaves to go several years ago. The infestation was just far too much to deal with. Hand removing them morning, noon and night was just not worth the time, energy and effort. Besides I hadn't seen a flower on any of them in 3 years.

Like terrene, I'm not into pesticides for my plants and gardening is supposed to be fun and enjoyable, not a constant torture of killing these horrible insects.

My neighbor just got rid of all of her beautiful lilies for the same reason and my friend in Burlington has dug up all of hers to get rid of as well.

There are far to many other beautiful flowers to grow that won't have you spending all your time battling the lily leaf beetle, which in the end will be a a fight won by the beetle not you.

Fran

Sightings entered; thanks all.

If you're not willing to use any pesticides, then yes, the beetle will probably win the battle. At least until the parasitic wasps can take over.

However, if you use the Bayer imidacloprid (or similar) products, you and your lilies have a chance - and without much effort.

Claire (on her soapbox again)

Claire,

Sorry to say I did try the bayer one year and it didnt' do anything to decrease the infestation of the lily leaf beetle on my plants.
One year of attempt with a pesticide that I normally wouldn't use, was more than enough for me.

Better to just get rid of the lilies until such time as it is safe to grow them again

Fran

I noticed someone else said that they did not have the beetle for about a week and they are back today. I have the same thing! Beetles again today! Must be the weather?

Wendy Richardson has some terrific photos of lily leaf beetles on her blog The Frugal Home Gardener. I'm trying to add these to the FAQ, with her permission, but it may take some time.

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Claire

They look so beautiful in the photos. Just look at those lovely bulging eyes! :-0

I have two sets of lilies. Most are in the front garden by the road. They are being eaten regulary. The few in the back yard by open fields are not getting attacked that much at all. I wonder if it is volume of lilies or the lack of other vegetation that makes a difference. The lilies in the back yard by the fields, are much larger and healthier due, I suspect, to the lack of attack.

Why are we supposed to clear their little orange carcasses out of the garden. Should they not be left as a warning to others?

I've read that sometimes when you think you've killed them, they're actually still alive and will recover to attack again. Tough little brutes. Better to clear them out.

Claire

evonnestoryteller - Can you tell me where in CT you are?(approximately if you don't want to say your town) I was hoping my lilies would be spared for a while yet. Doesn't sound like I will! (I'm in Trumbull)

I am in the NW corner of the state. The first attack for me occurred at the end of summer or early fall of last year. I was so surprised to see them first thing in the spring! I thought it was some sort of fall phenomena!

I have been picking and smushing for the last two weeks here in Willington,Ct. Don't care what it takes, my lilies aren't going to the compost pile. I am heading out there now for a session as I am mad as heck and I'm not going to take it anymore! LOL, Margot

I'm in Hingham and starting seeing the lily beetles the weekend of the 19th. I know that many are organic gardners- I wish I could be but don't have as much time as necessary to be out there attending to the destruction of the beetles.

Imadacloprin (Bayer Tree and Shrub treatment) seems to have scared them away. I freaked, doused the whole lot of them with the spray and now they seem to have departed for the time being.

I have not used anything but the old fashioned crunch the beetle method. Yesterday and today, no beetles. It almost seems like they wait until it is warm and sunny to appear.

So far this season, I haven't seen any beetles even though I've been checking everyday. I'll count myself lucky!

My main source of lily destruction is from my neighborhood rabbit family. So far only one Casa Blanca bud has survived; the rest were chewed within days of when they popped up.

I have a question for those of you on the front lines of the lily beetle wars. I do not grow asiatic lilies in my home gardens, but there are many in the border of the library where I work. I noticed several beetles on some of the lilies today and mentioned it to my co-workers. None of us has time, energy, or money to tend to this garden very much...those of us who are gardeners would rather go home to our own gardens. We do a general good spring clean out and fall clean out, let the town put down mulch and we do a bit here and there when we head in or out of work. A gardening club in town also does some work to it as well. In other words, no one is giving enough regular attention to the garden to be picking off beetles or to do weekly neem applications.

So my question is: Is there anything that can be applied that is possible to take care of these beetles? A friend says that her "garden guy" puts something down that keeps her beetle-free (and she lives near Boston.) Is this a myth? The problem is we live in an area with many honey "farms" and we do not want to mess with the honey bees, as many pesticides will.

Should we just pull out the lilies and be done with it? Or should we let them die a slow death?

Opinions?

For moderate beetle populations:

If you apply imidacloprid (such as Bayer's products) according to the directions, you can usually get away with one application per month or month and a half. Honeybees will be OK if you spray (or pour) very early or very late in the day when the bees are in bed. Once the imidacloprid is dry it's not dangerous to insects that don't chew on the lilies.

Some areas in MA have outrageous populations of beetles and this may not work there. CT should have moderate populations.

Claire (My first experience with lily leaf beetles came when I was living in NYC and coming up to MA every month or two. I discovered the beetles the day before I left for NYC, and I sprayed frantically. A month and a half later I came back, expecting to see decimated lilies. They were all fine. I've been using the Bayer's products ever since.)

I'm in the Upper Connecticut River Valley of NH and the red lily beetle made its first appearance here in my garden in 2006. I have been hand crushing and using neem oil.
This year, four adult red beetles made their appearance on
5/5 when my lilies were just breaking through the soil.

I think I am from the same place as franeli, and my beetles appeared 2 years ago also. I heard about them from nearby gardeners before that. Mine were very early this year because they were on the crown imperials, tho fortuately not until the blooms were going by. A friend of mine said she dug up her lily bulbs, removed a big slug, and the beetles didnt' appear. I have too many lilies to do that even tho I thought I'd pulled up most last year, but I may try it next year just with the Crown Imperials. The lilies I'm going to keep pulling unfortunately. I haven't seen any on my solomons seal thank good ness since I have several types and I love it.

Claire, thank you so much. That is exactly the kind of information I needed.

Hello all,

Well, I've had them for the past three years and this year so far so good. But now that I've said that.......

I'll keep checking and let y'all know. I'm in zone 5, outside Boston 35 miles west.

Many of my lilies have been up for a few weeks and I've only seen one adult beetle, no larvae. I grabbed for it but I'm not sure if I killed it or not. That was a few days ago. I put off spraying because it was too windy here - no beetles since that first one. Fingers, toes and eyes are crossed.

Claire

How far can we expect this lily beetle to spread? I read that they started out in Montreal and have been there for decades. That is a long time for a natural preditor not to come about. Can we expect they will spread to the warmer states too, or are they some sort of cold weather bug?

the little red horrors finally showed up this week. not too bad, but dang! drenched 'em with neem, enthusiastically squished a few, scraped some hateful orange spawn-eggs off the undersides of a few leaves ...

grody, chomping, rassin' frassin' ...

This is the first time I've been on this Forum and was attracted to this post because we have problems with this beetle in Ontario. They have been around here for at least 8 years. As everyone probably knows, this is a 'foreigner' and is not a prey to any local insects. Many people here have stopped planting lilies. I have lots of lilies but find they do not bother my Oriental lilies, only my Asiatics. I am surprised that some members cited finding them on other plants. Anyway, I keep them under control by spraying the nibs and surrounding earth just when they are beginning to emerge in Spring, with a 10% solution of household ammonia. This seems to kill off the emerging beetles and/or eggs and so I have very little problems. I may see a few in the spring, which I catch and squish by rubbing on a hard surface (a nice garden rock works well). Of course they return in the late summer to lay their eggs, so I keep an eye out for them, catch them and squish them. I inspect under the leaves to see if there is any deposit of that black icky stuff, and if there is I just run my hand up the plants to remove it. You can often see the little larvae in it. I am very opposed to using any harmful products in the garden. I got the info. about the ammonia (which is not harmful to the environment or the plants) from a Horticulturist at a local college. In addition, Bayer in Canada cannot sell that stuff to consumers, only Lawn Care companies. Happy Gardening.
Northerner.

I have seen them migrate to the Solomon's Seal in the yard. Very unhappy about that. I did notice this spring that there are Orioles in the garden and they seem to be very attentive to the Solomon's Seal, climbing into the leaves and hopping about in there. I can't think of anything that might attract them, unless they are bugs. That would really be nice if they were eating them. I have seen Grackles eating the Winter Moth caterpillars, so, maybe..

:-)

I am very environmentally conscious and I spend alot of time trying to leave a good footprint in my world. However, for lily beetle, I use my old supply of diazinon( you can't buy this anymore). a small amount around the base of each stem, as the stems emerge or as soon as i can. it works.

glad to hear about the 10% ammonia. i will try that next yr. as it is what i do for slug prevention on my hostas.
obviously, if IT works, no more bad girl diazinon for me.
best,
mindy

I am so glad to hear of the ammonia solution for slugs. I have quite a large collection of Hostas which are slug-free, but today I noticed something has been eating my Columbines, and I think it is slugs. Will try that tomorrow.

Well, this newbie gardener just had her 1st encounter w/ this awful little bug recently.

I didn't know a thing about 'em. The hubbie spotted some asiatic lillies at our local nursery last year, liked 'em and brought 'em home for me to plant.

This year they were growing like gangbusters and looked GREAT. Then seemingly overnight I noticed all the leaves from the halfway point of the stalks down were GONE.

Went out to investigate and AHHHH! Red beetles all over my lillies! AHHHH!

That's when I came to know these little creatures. Yup. It happened just this past weekend. And they are alllll over my lillies.

I blasted them w/ the hose. I stomped on 'em. I did everything I could. And have continued to pick them off. But ya know what? This weekend I'm seriously considering removing these lillies from the garden bed.

I've spent more time this week chasin' these little critters around than anything else in the garden. So, no more lillies for me. There's plenty other plants I'm fond of...that these dastardly beetles DON'T like!

I've added some of the latest information given here to the FAQ (and I finally got one of the photos in). This is part of the revised section on chemical controls:

..................................................................................................................

Merit (imidacloprid) is a systemic insecticide which may work if applied to the soil in early spring. Many New England gardeners are also reporting good results from the use of products containing imidacloprid when applied later in the season. Bayer manufactures several products containing systemic insecticides, both in spray and in granular form.

The Bayer Rose and Flower Spray has provided excellent control for many gardeners, without serious toxicity issues. However, it's important to follow the label directions to prevent destruction of bees and other beneficial insects while the spray is drying. The general principle is to apply the product when beneficial insects are not around, and to let it dry. This is probably a good idea with any insecticide since they are not specifically targeted to one insect species.

Other chemicals of relatively low toxicity include the following:

*10% household ammonia, applied to the newly emerging lily sprouts and surrounding soil (reported by northerner on of Ontario, Canada).
*Pyrethroid insecticides (Permethrin is one) kill adult beetles (reported by the UMass Extension).
*Spinosad insecticides kill larvae (reported by the UMass Extension).

If anyone knows of other ways to deal with the beetles, please post them.

Thanks,
Claire

Here is a link that might be useful: How do I keep the red lily leaf beetle from destroying my lilies?

Northerner,
It might not be slugs eating your columbines. Little green caterpillars (perhaps sawfly larvae) like to eat the columbines and leave the branches.
Read the link below for more information.

Here is a link that might be useful: something's eating my columbines link

you can get detailed discussion of this ammonia/hosta thing if you do a GW search for' ammonia hostas' .
best,
mindy

I'm having a difficult time finding the rose and garden spray mentioned. I live on the north shore of Boston and if someone could direct me, I'd appreciate it.
My lilies are overpowered with the nasty things and picking them off is a losing battle. I've been to the "big box" stores, most hardware stores in the area, and have unsuccessfully used the Bayer liquid that you mix with water ( for shrubs and trees) as I've been unable to find their spray.
Thanks,
salbwil

If there's an Agway near you they carry the Bayer Rose and Garden spray (at least all the Agway's around here on the south shore do). I think Mahoney's does also.

Claire

For me, the red beetles just showed up last week. :(

So far there have been few enough to pick off and squish by gloved hand.

I have used the Bayer Rose & Garden spray with success in the past. Bought it at one of the many Mahoney's outlets.

Good luck!
Judye

Claire, I found my first Lily Leaf Beetles on June 8th. of this month. No kidding!

I've been checking the lilies diligently all spring and found none of the vermillion marauders until the 8th.. I squished 8-10 on one stand of lilies. I checked the others but found none. I found a few more on the previously unaffected stands yesterday; grubs on one of the stands. I've hauled out the "nukes" to address the infraction.

Interesting that I noticed them so late in the season.

chelone: They were late here too, and didn't put up much of a fight. All I saw was adults, they didn't live long enough to lay eggs (as far as I know - there may be a pocket somewhere in the garden where a tiger lily self-seeded).

Roberta Clark, the horticulturist for Barnstable County, appears monthly on an NPR Cape and Islands radio show. She said that her garden was part of the original release of parasitic wasps five years ago, and that she now has very few lily leaf beetles.

Maybe the natural predators are taking control.

Claire

Seven Seven Seven I went to Home Depot and bought some SEVEN!!!! It killed everyone of those bastards. It also does a good job at keeping rodents away.

I have been fighting the Lily leaf beetle for 7 summers now, and they were in control for a while, but when I had my baby last spring, the little suckers got away from me. Last summer one clump of lilies was ravaged.
But something is different this year. I have only seen about three on the lilies close to my house, and I think I have seen a wasp on the clump that was ravaged last year. The wasp actually had a lily leaf beetle larvae in its grasp. Does anyone know what the parasitic wasp looks like? It looked like a thread waisted wasp.
It would be wonderful if the wasps made it to central MA already.

I think this is the wasp that was released by URI.

Eulophid wasp
Tetrastichus setifer Thomson

Here is a link that might be useful: Parasitic wasp

I think I did a good job of keeping up with the beetles this year. The lilies are now starting to blossom. However, the ones in front that had the beetles are definitely stunted.

We have done nothing about the Red Lily Leaf Beetles. The first year or two I hand picked them and grew tired of doing that. So I dug up my one patch of Casablanca Lilies in the fall and hosed off the root ball to see if I could get rid of the next generation because I was moving them anyway.

That didn't help at all. I moved them and I am pretty sure they found them again that same season. For the past three years, I just didn't have time to pay any attention to them. I look every once in awhile to see if they are still there and they are. The foliage has some holes. But my native lily and a lily that is supposed to not be bothered by the Lily Leaf Beetle, Black Beauty, seem to not get much attention from them. Pretty sure they have also started munching on our Solomon's Seal too.

Then this spring, something interesting happened. I have seen an Oriole pair, climbing into the Solomon's Seal and hopping around in there. I have a feeling they are eating the beetles.

At any rate, I am going to let them alone and see if somehow the garden can figure out it's own solution. Right now there is a shrub in front of the CasaBlancas and that is hiding the foliage with the holes in it, and the buds are developing just fine.

I would actually rather dig up my bulbs and throw them away then to use a chemical in the garden to get rid of them.

That wasp activity is very interesting, HSEternal.

pm2

Also interesting is that the orioles may be eating the beetles! I've always wondered why the birds didn't lower the beetle population. Maybe they look too much like ladybugs and ladybugs don't taste good?

My first lily in bloom is a no-ID Asiatic lily hidden in a corner of the yard where I forgot to spray it. The foliage looks fine. The lily is embedded in a field of ditch lilies and siberian irises so it's hard to see the leaves, but a few are visible.

My other lilies have a hole or two, but nothing really disfiguring, and some of the buds are about to open. I'm finding little volunteer tiger lilies that were self-seeded in odd places, and I'm not spraying them either.

Hope does spring eternal - but sometimes it's justified.

Claire

I find a few things work pretty well at control. Clear the area around the lily to bare ground and then dig down a few inches late the fall. Put a layer of fresh mulch down. This will help as they winter over at the base of where they were the year before. Start neem oil immediately when they break ground and continue weekly. Sevin will work nearly 100% but as most of you know is bad for bees. I have used it early before there are any flowers in that area of the garden. Anyone try Merit this year?

Here is a link that might be useful: How To Control Lily Beetle