Beetle Beware

Sarah Kimberley Holte
Jul 16, 2018
2 min read

Enter the little red alien - also known as the red lily beetle, scarlet lily beetle or lily leaf beetle, if you want to sound scientific or you enjoy butchering Latin, Lilioceris lilii. Ugh, I have killed hundreds of these nasty creatures. I was introduced to them in a few different parks in Winnipeg, where they came by dozens and then hundreds and wiped out the lilies. Seriously, they only take days to take out your lily plant.

When I moved to Saskatoon in the fall of 2015, our yard was not only in desperate need of blood, sweat and (some) tears, but also tons of plants to fill the gaps where the weeds and tree seedlings had taken over. A trip to the greenhouse ensued, where I came across tons of lilies that were on sale. After talking to the greenhouse expert who also was from Manitoba and knew of the lily beetle situation, she informed me that the little red alien had not flown to Saskatoon - yet. Well my Saskatooner friends, that day has come. It has been reported living outside our city and inside certain areas of it. I am thankful on one hand that I did not buy any lilies since moving here, but on the other I am saddening by this news and I hope my post will bring you to keeping ahead of this nasty insect.

The lily leaf beetle affects Oriental, rubrum, tiger and trumpet lilies, however daylilies are not affected. There are a couple control methods to keep in mind when checking your beloved lilies. There is the insecticide called neem oil, which kills the larvae and repels adults. It is very effective EARLY in the season but must be heavily applied every five to seven days. The other method is hand picking all stages of this beetle off the plant. The eggs are tiny and orangey-red, laid in long clusters, and are present on the underside of the leaf. The larvae is black-brownish in color and slimy. Simply squishing the eggs, larvae and adult beetles can suffice as long as you keep up on it - every couple of days. Even though it is more work, I would highly recommend using the hand picking method, pesticide use is linked to honeybee death.

(picture taken from growveg.com)