Hard to say because you haven't said which spray you were using before you ran out. Certainly, malathion has been withdrawn, if you were using that. Now you're stuck with Provado Ultimate Bug Killer, which they are still selling, ready mixed anyway, I bought some about 3 weeks ago in Tesco. Concentrate version is available on Amazon.

I've had masses of the little red critters this year. I picked off nine in one day last week. I've never found a bug spray that works and instead spend time patrolling the lilies. Sometimes I forget I'm wearing my slippers when I squish them!

I'm intrigued. Why will your wife have to be strong and squash them...?

Well, the Provado Ultimate Bug Killer, which does treat for lily beetle as well as a host of other things, is still readily available, either as a concentrate or ready mixed spray.

To be honest though, I find patrolling the plants as often as possible, stealthily, and picking the devils off and squishing is the most efficient, if you've got the time.

The problem with the Provado product is that it also kills bees! I use it in the greenhouse but not in the open garden.

Kills bees? I didn't know that. I've been quite profligate with it over my susceptible plants.
Shan't use it again.

Rosie rose, I think he means she's a bit squeamish about squashing them - bit like me and taking the heads off fish - ugh.

Try entering 'Provado ultimate bees' into your search engine for lots of pages talking about this. If you just put 'Provado ultimate' in you get pages and pages of advertising sites. I agree that it an effective insecticide, but .....

There is a lot of suspicion that Provado kills bees - the EU was going to withdraw it for two years to see whether the bee population recovered, but they haven't withdrawn it so far. The trouble is, there's no other chemical available to treat things like Phormium mealybug and lily beetle. But I only ever use it for Phormium mealybug and Viburnum beetle, and use other, friendlier products when its essential to use anything at all.

But probably the chemicals you use on your vegetables are those suitable for edible crops, Snoopdog, nothing so vicious and nasty as Provado Ultra...

Aarrgghh!! I think that I have asked this before, but I don't remember the answer. Are products containing spinosad available in the UK? If so, it is effective on all insects that actually chew the plants, including beetles and their larvae.

Hard to find, but yes, Tugbrethil - Amazon sells a ready mixed spray and a concentrate - but its pricy, at around £25 for the ready mix and nearly £50 for the concentrate. Its not a nice product though- attacks insects neurological systems, causing involuntary spasms and eventually, paralysis. A slow death, in other words... but maybe its just me! I figure, if you're going to kill something, it ought at least to be quick.

What about slug pellets? I refuse to use the blue ones which are so poisonous to birds and hedgehogs when they eat the slugs that I searched for a friendly product. Thought I'd found it and probably have - friendly towards the slugs! They have now eaten through two strong stems of Rudbeckia that I planted this week; the slime trails tell the story. Even with a scattering of the good pellets they still managed to destroy the few plants I'd put in.

Are we now breeding tougher slugs and snails?

No -you're just not using a product that will actually kill them. I've said this elsewhere on the site - I always thought metaldehyde pellets killed birds and hedgehogs, so finally I did a lot of research, but they don't, unless a hedgehog ate half a pack. The trick is to use them sparingly - I've seen people put so many down the borders look blue...

Hmm...practically all insecticides attack the bug's nervous system. In my experience, spinosad is not so slow, either--caterpillars and beetle grubs dead within a half hour of eating the sprayed plant. By all available acccounts, relatively non-toxic to land vertebrates, too.

You may be right, Tug - its not something I like to think about too much! I squish wherever possible...

Yep, that's the quickest...assuming that you can find them all! :)