Lily Leaf Beetle
Lilioceris lilii · Beetles
Lily Leaf Beetle
Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 21 July 2024

A Lily Leaf Beetle on a lily in the Botanic Garden, a European beetle established through much of the Northeast since the 1990s, wherever true lilies are grown. It and its larvae can strip a bed of lilies to the stems in a season.
Scarlet body, jet-black head and legs: conspicuous on purpose, since the colour is a warning that doesn't seem to work on the gardeners who have to deal with it. The larvae cover themselves in their own droppings as a disguise, which is effective, and is why gardeners pick the adults off by hand instead.
Birds, insects, plants and other wildlife, mostly from Brooklyn, with some from further afield.
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