Scarlet lily beetle
Lily chicken ( Lilioceris lilii )
The lilies chicken ( Lilioceris lilii ) is a beetle of the family of leaf beetles ( Chrysomelidae ).
Features
The animals are six to eight millimeters in size. They have a sealing wax red pronotum, same -colored elytra, a black head and black legs. The black coloration it differs from the very similar lily of the valley chicken ( Lilioceris merdigera ), which has a red head, and in which large portions of the legs ( femurs ) and rails ( tibia ) are the legs red.
Occurrence
The lilies Chicken is the most common Lily pest in Europe. It is also found in North Africa and Asia and was introduced to North America. One finds the lilies chicken on wetlands, to banks, parks and gardens with lilies.
Way of life
Both the imagos and the larvae feed on different types of lilies, but also to the-valley, imperial crown or onions. The larvae depend for their increased food demand do greater damage than the adults. They disguise themselves by deposit their droppings on the back. To this end, the After the larvae is shifted posteriorly. They spend their entire larval period in this slimy droppings, so that only the head out looks. In this way they will even by birds. Pupation takes place, after stripping the Kothülle, in a space formed from frothy, hardened secretion cocoon in the soil instead. The adults can quickly fall to the ground at risk and initially remain motionless on his back, so that her black bottom is unobtrusive upward. When threatened, they can also produce a chirping noise. Both males and females have for quergeriefte fields on the last abdominal segment, which are painted against the elytra edge. Lily chicken overwinter as pupa or imago and bring one to three generations per year out.
Nutrition and development
The females lay a total of about 300 of her eggs in small groups on the underside of leaves of their food plants. The eggs are about one millimeter in size, cylindrical and colored orange. After two to three weeks, the larvae pupate in the soil fully developed. After another week or two slips of the beetles. The beetles can form up to three generations. They are found from April to June and September to the food plants.
Control in ornamental garden
Generally Absammeln the beetle recommended, but which is often difficult because the beetles can be covered quickly. If the plant is already infested with larvae, as these can easily wash it off with a sharp stream of water. The larvae are unable to crawl back to the plant and can not therefore evolve. When spraying an aqueous soap / ethanol solution is recommended for severe infestations, as it is also used in organic farming. Even dusting with algal limestone or rock flour to help.