from the 1980s. Since then it has spread from Surrey in southern England as far north as Inverness, Scotland. It is also found in Ireland. It is also found in the Middle East and North Africa. Life cycle The beetle overwinters in the soil and emerges early in spring. The adult is generally found in moist, cool environments. It emerges in spring to feed and mate. The female can lay up to 450 eggs each season in batches of about 12 on the undersides of leaves. It arranges the red-orange to brown eggs in narrow irregular lines along the midrib, where they are more concealed. The eggs then hatch into yellow, brown or orange larvae in about 1–2 weeks. The larvae feed for up to 24 days, beginning underneath the leaf then working up the rest of the plant, and cause the most damage. Their preferred feeding locale is underneath the leaf or at the node where the leaf meets the stem. They then burrow in the ground to pupate in a cocoon of soil bound with saliva. In about 20 days they emerge as adults and continue to feed until winter. More than one cycle can occur in one year. Behaviour Often the first evidence of lily leaf beetle infestation is sticky brown frass piles containing larvae on leaves. The larvae remain in the frass for protection from the sun and predators. However, the fecal shield is not effective protection against parasitoids, and it may actually make it easier for parasitoids such as the wasp Lemophagus pulcher to locate the larvae. An adult that senses danger displays a defense mechanism, thanatosis, becoming motionless, folding up its appendages and falling with its black under surface facing up, thereby helping it camouflage with the ground to get away. If unable to escape, they are also able to ‘squeak’, by rubbing two parts of their body together, which may be used to startle the attacker. This process is known as stridulation and could even shock a bird or any other predator that may attack the lily leaf beetle. Lilies may first show evidence of holes chewed in the leaves from consumption, and if left unchecked rapidly progress to blackening, and total loss of the leaves, leaving only the stem. Beetles and their larvae may also inhabit and devour the developing flower buds. Invasion may occur shortly after the new plants emerge from