ASPARAQUS=BEETLES. 



in Plate LXXXIII. In brunnicollis the elytra are wholly 

 dark blue; head and pronotum red. In collaris the elytra 

 are wholly dark greenish-blue; head, black; pronotum, 

 red. 



We have two species; both are from 

 Crioceris Europe and largely confined, as yet, to the 



East; and both attack asparagus. C. asparagi (Plate 

 LXXXIII) was introduced about 1862 near New York. 

 The three yellow spots are sometimes joined. Adults 

 hibernate under rubbish. The dark-brown eggs are 

 usually laid in rows. Pupation occurs underground; 

 there are several generations a year. Crioceris 1 2-punctata 

 is a trifle larger; red with six black spots on each elytron. 

 It was introduced about 1881 near Baltimore. Adults 

 emerging from hibernation eat the young shoots but the 

 larvae prefer the ripening berries to "leaves." This species 

 pupates underground. 



Clythrini 



Adults of this tribe, also of the Chlamydini and Crypto- 

 cephalini, have "the basal ventral plates of the abdominal 

 segments somewhat shorter in the middle than at the sides, 

 the fourth one being often invisible in the middle, while 

 the fifth is very large." Sharp further says: 'This 

 character appears to be connected with a very remarkable 

 habit, viz., the formation of a case to envelop the egg. 

 The tip of the abdomen is somewhat curved downwards, 

 and, in the female, bears a hollow near the extremity; 

 when -an egg is extruded the female envelops it with a 

 covering said to be excrementitious. When the larva 

 hatches, it remains within this case, and subsequently 

 enlarges it by additions from its own body." The Cly- 

 thrini have short, serrate antenna?, which are not received 

 in marginal grooves on the lower side of the thorax; the 

 prosternum does not extend between the front coxae; 

 the pronotum has thin side-margins and fits closely against 

 the elytra. The larvas of Coscinoptera dominicana are 

 said to feed on vegetable debris in ants' nests. 



365 



