THE INSECT WORLD. 



Fig. 204. 



considerably in form and habit, but are often more or less viscid, 

 and are then termed slugs. 



Belonging to the genus Lema is a little series of species, several 

 ofwhicli feed upon the potato, and of these the best known is 

 the Lema j-lineata, or " 3 lined potato-beetle." It is yellow in 

 color, the head and thorax much narrower than the body, and 

 the wing-covers have three broad, black stripes. It is rarely 

 abundant now-a-days, though at one time a somewhat important 

 species, and it may be easily controlled by the use of the arsenites. 

 In fact it is the treatment adopted for the better-known " Colo- 

 rado " beetle that has in a large measure exterminated the Lcnia. 



Somewhat allied in form are two species of Crioceris, both 

 feeding on asparagus, and both introductions from Europe. The 

 common "asparagus-beetle," C. asparagi, is about one-fourth 

 of an inch in length, the wing-covers black with red or yellow 

 markings, the thorax red with black dots. It hibernates as an 

 adult, and appears early in spring, eating into the asparagus 

 shoots and laying its eggs upon them. 

 These eggs are black and quite long, cylin- 

 drical, set on end so as to project from the 

 shoots in every direction. The larvae hatch 

 soon thereafter, and are slimy, greenish 

 slugs, with black dottings, a blackish head, 

 and black legs. They often do great in- 

 jury, particularly on young plants. On 

 beds where cutting is done, a few shoots 

 should be allowed to grow as traps during 

 the cutting season, and on these the ma- 

 jority of beetles will oviposit. In a week 

 they should be cut and destroyed, other 

 shoots being allowed to take their place, to 

 be similarly treated thereafter. If this prac- 

 tice is kept up for a month, no injury need 

 be anticipated later on, as the species will 

 be too much reduced in numbers to be- 

 come troublesome. No volunteer aspara- 

 gus should be permitted, as otherwise the insects w^ill multiph- 

 there. In young beds the beetles cannot be checked, because 

 spraying the feathery leaves is impracticable, but after the larvae 



Asparagus-beetle, Crio- 

 ceris asparagi : larva, 

 adult, and shoot with eggs. 



