Hello everyone,
I am an entomologist (bug scientist) interesting in tracking the spread
of a nasty ornamental lily pest called the lily leaf beetle (or scarlet
lily beetle). It's a small (5-8mm) bright red beetle with black
legs, head and antennae. There are no spots or markings on the red
body. If anyone, particularly in Canada or the U.S.A., has spotted
this critter in their garden in the past, I would greatly appreciate
some information: your location (city, state/province, postal/zip
code) and the year that you found it. Feel free to include any tidbits
of info (for example, the species you found it on) that you think might
be useful.
I plan to present some information about this pest at the North
American Lily Society meeting in Edmonton and would like to have some
recent statistics to accompany the talk.
I recently completed my M.Sc. thesis about the lily beetle at Carleton
University in Ottawa, Ontario. If anyone has any sightings to report,
or has any questions regarding the beetle or my work, please contact me
at .
Thanking you in advance,
Crystal Ernst