ADULTS

Lily leaf beetle adults overwinter in the soil or leaf litter. They emerge with the first warm days of spring and begin to feed, mate and lay eggs on growing lilies.  (photo: T. Haye)

---

EGGS

Eggs are laid in linear groups of 3-12 on the undersides of leaves. (photo: T. Haye)

---

LARVAE

The larvae are the most damaging (and disgusting!) life stage.  They cover themselves in their own excrement, which deters predators. (photo: T. Haye)

---

PUPAE

After going through four instars (stages), the larvae leave the plant and form a cocoon by gluing soil particles together.  By mid-summer the new adults emerge. They feed but do not mate until the following spring after overwintering in the soil. (photo: T. Haye)

---

references

Gold, M.S. (2003) Biological control of the lily leaf beetle, Lilioceris lilii, in North America. PhD Thesis, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, United States. available here