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Talkback: Dealing with lily beetle
I catch lilly beetles with a spring loaded meash infusor (used for infusing tea leaves) which I hold open over the lilly beetle and then snap shut. Before it knows what's happening, I've captured it. I gently pull the meash infuser away, letting go a little bit of a grip so as not to damage the lilly leaf, and then put the meash infusor with contained beetle into hot water to kill it. Totally organic (no chemicals), and mildly satisfying!
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And there was me feeling guilty about guillotining slugs with my secateurs It is a quick death no?
Wintersong, that is exactly what I do to slugs to! I refuse to feel guilty, I would feel bad when I'd be using the pellets though. Lily beetles are crushed with whatever I can find - I really love my Fritillaria meleagris- IMO just as quick as boiling them.
I just catch them in my hand and drop them in the water butt I find they arent very good at swimming
Once the flowers are open though it's squishing 'em that seems the only remedy. I am a little worried by the amount of satisfaction this gives me TIm Burr, she laughed demonically, so you are not alone.
Don't forget to hunt out the eggs underneath the leaves. They are tiny, but as they are red as well they do stand out so you can squish them. When I do catch the adult beetles, I pop them on the floor upside down - they stay put as they think they are camouflaged!!!! And then I crunch them. Very satisfying. But not quite as satisying as the crunch you get from a vine weevil.
I use the finger and thumb method too. I've already posted this photo on a couple of other lily beetle threads. But it is so satisfying:
The warm dry weather seems to bring them out. I've been finding half-a-dozen, or more, every day while the weather has been fine.
I think that regular visual inspection, and manual termination, is by far the most reliable and effective way of dealing with these creatures.
Just found my first lily beetle. I crunched it but think if I find any more I will try the tea infuser. - What else can they be used for! Sounds very satisfying and I do love my lilies
Gary Hobson can we have some of your dry weather here in Ewell ,We had two dry days over the weekend and its raining again now.That must be over a month of rain.