A type of insect is eating my daylilies. There are literally swarms of them
inhabiting my daylily plants. They ate the leaves and left jagged edges all
over them; the most severely eaten plants turned brown and shriveled down to
the ground.

I looked up this insect in my gardening book but I could not find it mentioned
as a threat to daylilies. It looks like a small beetle, with two yellow stripes
running down the length of its body. I tried pyrethrine for a week and it did
not work; I tried Spectricide and diatomaceous earth and they also failed. I
was so desperate I turned to Ortho's Bug be Gone today and sprayed it on the
daylilies, at the recommendation of our local nursery.

I felt so guilty about this because Bug be Gone contains diazinon which is
toxic to everything on the planet. What can I use to solve this problem, while
minimizing the effect on other insects and birds in my backyard?

Jeff

On 15 Jun 2004 05:17:19 GMT, ojunk (Jefffooz) wrote:

I looked up this insect in my gardening book but I could not find it mentioned
as a threat to daylilies. It looks like a small beetle, with two yellow stripes
running down the length of its body. I tried pyrethrine for a week and it did
not work; I tried Spectricide and diatomaceous earth and they also failed. I
was so desperate I turned to Ortho's Bug be Gone today and sprayed it on the
daylilies, at the recommendation of our local nursery.

The first thing would be to ID the bug. It sounds as if your local
nursery has no clue. Extension agent? Do you have a scanner or digital
camera? Pictures might help someone identify the bug. Then you could
look up specific controls. I can understand your frustration -- my
daylilies are in bloom now and I'd sure hate to see anything happen to
them.

"Frogleg" wrote in message
...
On 15 Jun 2004 05:17:19 GMT, ojunk (Jefffooz) wrote:

I looked up this insect in my gardening book but I could not find it
mentioned
as a threat to daylilies. It looks like a small beetle, with two yellow
stripes
running down the length of its body. I tried pyrethrine for a week and it
did
not work; I tried Spectricide and diatomaceous earth and they also
failed. I
was so desperate I turned to Ortho's Bug be Gone today and sprayed it on
the
daylilies, at the recommendation of our local nursery.

The first thing would be to ID the bug. It sounds as if your local
nursery has no clue. Extension agent? Do you have a scanner or digital
camera? Pictures might help someone identify the bug. Then you could
look up specific controls. I can understand your frustration -- my
daylilies are in bloom now and I'd sure hate to see anything happen to
them.

That said, the OP should take some comfort in knowing that it is unlikely
that the insects will actually kill the plants. I would bet that they will
come back just fine. (Except for the most expensive one that you cherish -
that one will toast)