They've been spotted from Cornwall to Liverpool, so if you are growing Lilies start searching!
Beautiful they may look with their bright red shiny shells, but they are fiends to Lilies and related plants like fritillaries as you can see from the chewed leaves above.
The best control is to search your plants and remove them, but they tend to instantly drop to the ground when disturbed and lie black belly up to hide (very effectively) if you don't get hold of them. You can also spray to make the plants unpalatable. Whatever method you use, don't let them get away because they can easily decimate plants leaving leafless and flowerless stumps. And don't think that when you have done one sweep that you have got on top of them, they breed so prolifically that there are multiple generations every year, and both the beetles and the grubs are destructive!
So if you spot them dispatch them sharpish - we recommend the boot treatment!
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