Lily beetle

Its hard to believe that such a beautiful beetle is hated by so many! The scarlet lily beetle Lilioceris lilii has become the lily growers' nemesis. Both the adults and larvae can defoliate lilies and fritillaries.

Adults are 8mm long, bright red with a black head and legs. Eggs are 1mm long and orange-red, found in groups on the underside of lily and fritillary leaves. Larvae have orange bodies with black heads but are normally covered with their own slimy black excrement. The fully grown larvae are 8-10mm long. The pupal stage is in the soil.

The beetle became established in Surrey in 1939 and it remained confined to south east England until the late 1980s. By the end of 2011 it had become widespread in England and Wales and was spreading in Scotland and Northern Ireland, it is also beginning to spread in the Republic of Ireland. Its certainly well established in our Peterborough garden so perhaps its just as well that we don't grow lilies!

As you can see its been sunny today - and warm. Almost a taste of summer!! The highlight of the day was visiting Stonepit Close to carry out a butterfly transect. Unfortunately we our arrival coincided with a cloudburst, during which the temperature dropped from 17C to 12C. We waited for the sun to return before starting our recording, but still only saw three species of butterfly, though one was a dingy skipper - the first of the year.