You have friends in England. Would you be able to ask them how they control the bleepity bleep bleep red lily beetle over there? We've got the beetle but no natural predators and no effective pesticide for it. Wish the birds would eat it. The stupid bug is bright red. It's easy pickings.
My cousin Lee has a gardening business in England and this is his reply to my e-mail.:
It is not something that I have ever encountered first-hand, but see from having done a bit of research that they are in fact present in the UK. I list below several URLs which may be of help, especially that which gives recipes for home-made pesticides.
Unfortunately, most modern commercial preparations are so watered-down because of various environmental legislation, that in my experience they are a waste of time. I'm afraid the "environmentally friendly" and trying to kill something don't really go hand-in-hand, and have always treated pyrethrum as something of a joke.
To the list of home-made pesticides I would also suggest a concoction of rhubarb leaves which is a very old remedy and quite deadly. just soak leaves in a container until you end up with a "broth".
Hope that this is of some help. If all of the above fail I recommend napalm or agent orange.
-- Edited by meggie on Saturday 17th of April 2010 04:56:19 PM
