Grrr Lily Beetles!

So we have fair sized flower beds. We do well in planting hardy stuff that pretty much looks after itself.

But some idiot in the area isn't doing a darn thing for their lily beetles. Every year we get them, I take care of them (with Raid), then later on we get a second wave. It would be one thing to just have to deal with the occasional problem but there has to be a place nearby that is acting as a breeding ground. Someone else's ignorance (or uncaring attitude) is impacting us! sigh We've already decided that we'll have to drop the asiatic lilies.

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People are funny, or infuriating, when it comes to stuff like this. If a problem you are having is only your problem, then they need not concern themselves with your concerns. It's not their problem. But if some problem you were having crossed a border and became their problem, well holy crackers, the wailing and weeping!

You are probably correct that some moron near you is NOT tending his garden and being vigilant against these beetles, or perhaps is utterly ignorant, the global excuse for doing the wrong thing, or nothing at all, which is, in my mind, the wrong thing.

I think you should put on your camo gear and your night vision goggles, sneak around until you find the offending gardener and spray RAID on THEM!

uno wrote:People are funny, or infuriating, when it comes to stuff like this. If a problem you are having is only your problem, then they need not concern themselves with your concerns. It's not their problem. But if some problem you were having crossed a border and became their problem, well holy crackers, the wailing and weeping!

You are probably correct that some moron near you is NOT tending his garden and being vigilant against these beetles, or perhaps is utterly ignorant, the global excuse for doing the wrong thing, or nothing at all, which is, in my mind, the wrong thing.

I think you should put on your camo gear and your night vision goggles, sneak around until you find the offending gardener and spray RAID on THEM!

I'm wailing and weeping? Well maybe wailing but NO weeping... just some quiet sobbing in the dark.

"Oh hi Officer, what's with the camo and night vision goggles in my Neighbour's backyard? Oh I'm looking for Lily Beetles and I... what do you mean 'Creepy'?"

I was involved in some research a few years back for the Alberta Regional Lily Society on the Lily beetle. Because of one of the occasionally ridiculous quirks of science, we had to officially prove the the beetle exists here in Alberta (even though lots of Lily fanciers around Calgary had been seeing the beetle in their gardens for years!)

One thing we discovered is that no-one has yet found an effective pesticide for this beetle. While I'm sure your neighbour isn't helping, raid wouldn't give you much more than a very short term solution to your problem. Chances are, the bottoms of your leaves had a big pile of beetle eggs just waiting to hatch again!

The good news is that the government has now given permission for a parasitoid of Lily beetle to be released across Canada, so with luck there will be a natural pest controlling the beetle here in a few years.

Thanks for the heads up. I will douse my lilies with neem and await the arrival of the parasitic wasp Calvary! Now I know what those beetles are, they will be on my squish first ask questions later list...

No, no Fowler! I did not mean that YOU were wailing and weeping! I meant other people, who brush aside their neighbour's concerns, are the first to wail and weep when said concerns come home to roost. I have never thought of you as a wailer and weeper. No one in a sweater vest is a wailer or weeper. More the wistful expression and deep sighing type.

auntieevil wrote:Thanks for the heads up. I will douse my lilies with neem and await the arrival of the parasitic wasp Calvary! Now I know what those beetles are, they will be on my squish first ask questions later list...

I should clarify, these things take approximately forever to actually happen. Could be several years, and it`s been a while since I heard from either the ARLS or the entomologist I was working for.

The Neem should help until the wasps eventually arrive. They are releasing them south of us in the US, so hopefully they can over winter and make their way north. That is, if Homeland Security doesn't stop them at the border -lol

Country Thyme Farm wrote:

One thing we discovered is that no-one has yet found an effective pesticide for this beetle. While I'm sure your neighbour isn't helping, raid wouldn't give you much more than a very short term solution to your problem. Chances are, the bottoms of your leaves had a big pile of beetle eggs just waiting to hatch again!

I monitor for the larva as well. In the past 4 years I've had one plant that got larva and those were quickly dispatched. Also the Raid I have used has been the stuff for ants that kills by contact over a longer period of time (bug just has to walk over it to pick it up). Seems to work. Note: I don't spray the flowers, just the leaves. They're not flowering as yet and I don't want to hit any bees with friendly fire.

Uno I knew what you meant. Then it occurred to me that I was probably wailing (but not weeping). Hey Stupid Neighbour, Keep your beetles at home!!!! WAIL!!!!