Amateur flower growers who grow lilies often encounter pests of the flower — red bugs.
Insects attack a beautiful plant, and soon it dies.
Pest description
Firefighter beetle refers to family of leaf beetles and bears a greater threat to the leaves of the flower. Today there are often two types of pests: an onion rattle and a lily rattle. Insects very much eat the foliage, sometimes you can find a plant with a bare stem.
Important! If you ignore the invasion of "firefighters", their larvae are able to eat the plant completely in 4 weeks! As soon as the pests were discovered, it is necessary to begin an active struggle with them.
- Onion cracker. This pest is a representative of leaf beetles, having a bright red body and head. Thanks to the powerful jaws, the pest can eat not only the leaves - its prey becomes the buds, flowers and stem of the plant. The main purpose of leaf beetles are lilies of the valley and lilies. That is why they have another name: "lily beetle".
- Lilium ratchet. Another pest of lilies, the so-called red bugs. They have a rather attractive appearance, they have hard wings. In the people such pests are called "firefighters" because of their coloring. They have an oblong red body and a black head.
Insects like ants, kippers, bark beetles, weevils, ground beetles and the May beetle also cause irreparable damage to plants.
Harm in the garden
The leaf beetles moved to the dacha plots relatively recently: back in the 90s, they lived exclusively in the forests. Today, the lily beetle is found in the garden quite often, and you need to know how to fight it. 
Did you know? The larvae envelop themselves with mucus from their own excrement. Thus, they protect themselves from birds, ignoring young individuals, which they take for their stool.Undoubtedly, adults are capable of causing damage to plants in the spring, but it is not so large and cannot cause the death of a flower. It is necessary to beware of the larvae: they appear on the lower part of the leaves a little later, have an orange color. During one season, one leaf beetle lays about 450 eggs, from which several generations can hatch.
About a week after being laid eggs pink larvae appear. They are located under the sheet, so they are quite difficult to notice right away. The larvae are very voracious and can eat all the leaves on the flower, leaving only the stem. 
After 2-3 weeks, they move to the ground, where their transformation into orange pupae begins. After 3 weeks, the red pests go hunting. For the winter, they hide in the ground or fallen leaves.
Important! When planting lilies, it is worth laying a garden film between the rows - this will prevent the beetles from digging into the ground, and you can quickly destroy them.The leaf beetles very quickly attack the plants, and sometimes you can not have time to enjoy the beauty of the flowers.
How to deal with leaf eaters
If the red beetle began to appear on the lilies, you need to know how to get rid of it. There are several methods of pest control. Consider them. 
Manually
The easiest and safest way to kill beetles - mechanical. They can be collected by hand or shaken into a container. The can must be closed with a lid, since the beetles are well kept on the surface of the water and, gathering in one heap, can easily get out of the tank.
If you have a small area, this method will help to cope with the invasion of "firefighters". Collect beetles need several times per season. Despite the fact that insects do not irritate the skin and do not have poison, such an event should be carried out in gloves.
Chemistry
If the mechanical method of fighting with beetles did not bring results, it is necessary to use more severe methods. This is about chemical preparations which are detrimental to insects. However, they are used only when lilies do not bloom. 
Did you know? Fire beetles are very tricky: when a person approaches them, they fall to the ground with a black belly up and become invisible. After the danger has passed, they take off and again are accepted for eating flowers.
The drug aimed at the destruction of this type of pest, no. It is advisable to use solutions and tools, the purpose of which is to destroy leaf-eating pests. Often, to combat the "firefighters" use the same drugs as for the destruction of the Colorado potato beetle.
Over time, the ratchets become resistant to chemicals. If red bugs began to appear on the lilies, you need to know how to treat the plant. The best effect will have the following drugs: "Inta-Vira", "Talstar", "Detsis".
For effective pest control, the following drugs are used: Nemabakt, Medvetoks, Aktofit, Kinmiks, Brunka, Calypso, Muravyed, Abiga-Peak, Iskrataya golaya and Bitoxibacillin ".
If the flower garden has large sizes, and you also found a lot of larvae, it is recommended to spray a special solution prepared according to the instructions. Do not deviate from the recommended proportions, as this can lead to plant burns, while the beetles will remain intact.
Biological methods
One of the effective ways to deal with red bugs - the use of parasitoids. These insects settle on rattle bodies and gradually destroy them.
To date, 6 parasitoids have been derived. This number includes 5 wasps and one fly. Thanks to them, reproduction of pests is restrained and damage caused to flowers is reduced. According to the results of the research, thanks to the wasps, 100% of the larvae of beetles, swiftly eating lily leaves, are destroyed.
If you want beautiful and healthy lilies to always grow in the garden, you need to prepare in advance for their protection. In specialized stores it is necessary to purchase the necessary chemicals, sprayers, and always be ready to join the fight with firefighters.
