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Lily beetle

PEST
When it's active · UK
When it's active · Northern Italy
When it's active · Central Italy
When it's active · Southern Italy and islands

How to recognise it

Bright red beetles and their sludge-covered, dark larvae skeletonising leaves and stripping flower buds.

Life cycle and conditions

Adults emerge and become active in spring, laying eggs on leaf undersides; several generations can occur through the season in warm years.

Prevention

Check plants regularly from early spring, as soon as growth emerges.

How to treat it

🌿 ORGANIC · RECOMMENDED

Hand removal is the main and genuinely effective control — check regularly and pick off beetles and larvae (they drop and play dead when disturbed, so check the ground underneath too).

🧪 CHEMICAL · IF YOU CHOOSE

An insecticide approved for amateur use is an option only for severe, recurring infestations that hand removal can't keep up with — it will also affect other insects visiting the same plant, including pollinators on nearby flowers.

PLANTS MOST AFFECTED
lilyfritillary