Lily beetles....

One of the wonderful things about having my very own space to garden is that I can grow lilies.....huge, fragrant, splendiferous lilies!

I love them in the garden or picking them for the house - their heavenly scent wafting wherever you put them. Aaaaah. Wonderful.

I've been growing them for about ten years now. Five and a half in our current garden. Which has been long enough to sound out to all the wretched lily beetles in our area that our garden is a lily playground. Grrr.

Here's a picture of one of the little blighters:

And here is a picture of the same lily seconds after I found it!

Gone!

Magic!

They are bright vermilion red so easy spot. If you are brave enough to hold them close to your ear pre-squashing, you may hear the bizarre squeak they emit. Very strange. Why would a beetle squeak?

If you grow lilies in your garden, do keep an eye out for lily bettles as the little critters will munch through leaves and can badly distortand even damage the plant.