Whats happening to my Lily it has brown deposits on it and looks like it is being eaten?
Unfortunately what you see on your lily is the larva stage of the lily leaf beetle. The lily leaf beetle looks a little like a ladybug without any spots. The Lily beetle lays its orange eggs under the leaves of the Lily in an irregular line. The eggs take 7 to 10 days to hatch. The larvae look a little like slugs with orange or brownish bodies with black heads. The larvae are rather gross as they carry their own excrement on their backs. Yuck! They larvae tend to cause the most damage to the lilies, and this stage can last 16 to 24 days. The larvae enter the soil to pupate and the new adults emerge in 16 to 22 days. The lily leaf beetle does overwinter in the soil. The best way to control the beetle is by handpicking and squishing. I cover my hand with a plastic bag, so I am not touching the larvae. Carbaryl (Sevin) and Malathion are effective, but these can be toxic to bees and other insects. Neem oil is another effective treatment but needs to be applied weekly, probably at a higher
