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Lily beetles are quite attractive and sometimes even
mistaken for ladybirds. Not so! The bright red beetles can cause a lot of damage with a wide
range of plants in the Lilium family and also on Fritillaria imperialis
- Crown Imperials.
Whilst the adult Lily Beetle
might look attractive, it's larvae has the disgusting habit of covering
itself in its own excrement in order to avoid detection and therefore
being a meal for birds etc!
The tell tale signs are the chunks
eaten out of the leaves of lilies and Fritillarias. Both the adult
beetle and also the larvae are voracious feeders ion the foliage and
also the flowers of such plants. The larvae in particular can strip a
plant of foliage and flower within a couple of days if unchecked. |
