Lily Beetle (Lilioceris lilii) in 2009 & 2010

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SteveMcBill
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Lily Beetle (Lilioceris lilii) in 2009 & 2010

Post by SteveMcBill »

Lily Beetle (Lilioceris lilii) in 2009:

I saw my first Lily Beetle (Lilioceris lilii) of the year today (30th April 2009) in the front-garden in Priory Close, Halton Village, Runcorn on cultivated lilies being grown in pots.

Currently rECOrd only has 55 records of this beetle for the whole of the County.

A map of Lily Beetle records (55 records as at 30/04/2009).
A map of Lily Beetle records (55 records as at 30/04/2009).
It must be more common than this and it is my guess that anyone who grows lilies in their garden will probably have this beetle in the next couple of weeks. The adult is a bright scarlet red with a black underside, head and antennae. The larvae are bright red too but are often undetected as they cover themselves with excreta and look like dark green to black blobs on the leaves. Both larvae and adults eat the lily leaves.
Lily Beetle (Lilioceris lilii).
Lily Beetle (Lilioceris lilii).
Lily Beetle (Lilioceris lilii)
Lily Beetle (Lilioceris lilii)
Lily Beetle 1.jpg (15.87 KiB) Viewed 17006 times
Should you see this beetle, or the larvae, on your lilies would you please report it to the staff at rECOrd along with a date, grid-ref (or address and post code of your garden), your contact details and an approximate count of numbers. data@rECOrd-LRC.co.uk Many thanks.

Steve :)[/color]
SteveMcBill
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Re: Lily Beetle (Lilioceris lilii) in 2009

Post by SteveMcBill »

Lily Beetle Larvae:

Today (Wednesday 1st July 2009) there were 31 Lily Beetle larvae on cultivated Lilies in the front garden at Priory Close. For those who do not know - Lily beetle larvae are bright red in colour (ranging from pinky red to scarlet) but cover themselves in their wet excreta which is black in colour so that they just look like lumps of dirt/muck.

Steve :)
Attachments
Lily Beetle larvae covered in black excreta.
Lily Beetle larvae covered in black excreta.
Lily Beetle larva (without excreta covering) showing its red colour.
Lily Beetle larva (without excreta covering) showing its red colour.
SteveMcBill
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Re: Lily Beetle (Lilioceris lilii) in 2010

Post by SteveMcBill »

Lily Beetle (Lilioceris lilii) in 2010:

Found the first Lily Beetle (Lilioceris lilii) in Runcorn (SJ54038215) on cultivated lilies in the garden this morning (Monday 26th April 2010).

Anybody else seen any anywhere ??

Steve :?
Norton
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Re: Lily Beetle (Lilioceris lilii) in 2009

Post by Norton »

Hi Steve,

I found six Lily Beetle (Lilioceris lilii) on Crown imperial or Kaiser's Crown Fritillaries (Fritillaria imperialis) yesterday (20th May 2010) in the walled garden at Norton Priory Runcorn.

I've not found them on Fritillaria imperialis before.

Paul :)
SteveMcBill
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Re: Lily Beetle (Lilioceris lilii) in 2009/2010

Post by SteveMcBill »

Hi Paul,

I assume you have put those into RODIS mate - I see you were in yesterday afternoon and also this morning.

I found ten (10) Lily Beetles (Lilioceris lilii) here in the garden in Priory Close, Halton Village today (21st May 2010) - all on cultivated Lilies.

I have seen reports from various places over the last couple of years of them attacking and feeding on Snake's Head Fritillaries (Fritillaria meleagris) but have not personally found them on such. It will be interesting to see if I can find them on the Snake's Head Fritillaries planted by HBC on some of the local roundabouts and roadside verges on the A533.

Steve :)
DonSten
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Re: Lily Beetle (Lilioceris lilii) in 2009

Post by DonSten »

I haven't seen this beautiful insect yet this year, but will keep an eye out for it.
I am going to be involved with a garden project next year, so may encourage gardeners to record it.
Don

PS - will now post a plea for Alder beetle records again!
keith
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Joined: Mon Aug 02, 2010 3:49 pm

Re: Lily Beetle (Lilioceris lilii) in 2009 & 2010

Post by keith »

Just an observation, although it applies to 2008.
The only time I have cultivated lilies, they were infested with 12 or so Lilioceris lilii, in May 2008. We live in Sale, in the NE corner of Cheshire. It seems that they are far more common now at this latitude than my textbooks say.

Keith :)
DonSten
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Re: Lily Beetle (Lilioceris lilii) in 2009 & 2010

Post by DonSten »

Hi Keith

I'm not sure what textbooks you refer to but the attached map shows the current UK distribution of L.lilii and as you can see it is quite well distributed in England. I wouldn't be surprised if it is more common between Yorkshire/Lancs and Cumbria and in Wales than the map suggests - few recorders about?

Cheers
Don
Lilioceris lilii distribution.gif
Lilioceris lilii distribution.gif (4.74 KiB) Viewed 16655 times
SteveMcBill
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Re: Lily Beetle (Lilioceris lilii) in 2009 & 2010

Post by SteveMcBill »

Keith, could you possibly supply your full name, and either an 8 figure Grid Ref for your garden (I assume that is where the Lilies where) or your post code and house number (so I can work out the grid ref) -then we could get the record of your Lily Beetles onto the database. Any idea of how many there were ?? Many thanks.

Steve :)
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