244 FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF THE STATE EKTOMOLOGIST. 



had been regarded as of family value, hare been united by Br. Le 

 Conte, Dr. Horn, and others, as the ChrysomelidcB, with ten sub- 

 families, of which the Criocerides form one. Many of the members of 

 this family as now constituted, are very destructive to our crops and 

 especially to the products of the garden, in both their larval and per- 

 fect stages, by feeding on the leaves; the larvoe of some destroy plants 

 by boring into the roots. We may cite as familiarly known represen- 

 tatives, the three-lined leaf-beetle, Lema irilineata (Oliv.); the striped 

 cucumber beetle, Dicibrotica vittata (Fabr.); the cucumber flea-beetle, 

 Epitrix cucumeris (Harris) ; the grape-vine flea-beetle, Graptodera 

 cludylea (111.) ; the turnip flea-beetle, Phyllotreta striolata (Fabr.) ; 

 iind the Colorado potato-beetle, Doryphora lO-lhudta (Say). 



Recent Introduction of another Asparagus Beetle. 

 The C. asparagi has for a long time remained the only representa- 

 tive of the genus Grioceris, in the United States. Eecently, however, 

 a second species has been introduced, which, it is feared, may prove 

 more injurious to asparagus than its naturalized congenor. We quote 

 from the American Naturalist, for February, 1883 : — 



" Mr. Otto Lugger, of Baltimore, Md., has already recorded the re- 

 cent introduction from Europe of a second asparagus beetle, the Crio- 

 ceris 12-punctafa Linn., which in Europe occurs commonly wherever 

 asparagus is cultivated, without, however, doing serious injury. Mr. 

 Luggar found it first in the summer of 1881, near Baltimore, in small 

 numbers and quite local, but it has recently proved even more trouble- 

 some than C. asparayi. From the latter species this new enemy 

 may at once be distinguished by its less elongate form, and by the 

 bright orange-red of the upi)er surface, each elytron being marked 

 with six small black dots." 



Miss Ormerod remarks of this species that it is seldom found in 

 England. 



Natural History. 

 The history of C. asparagi is, in brief, as follows : The beetles des- 

 tined to continue the species, survive the winter in dry, sheltered 

 places, as beneath bark, in crevices of wood, and under the clapboards 

 of buildings. Simultaneously with the appearance of the asparagus 

 shoots in early spring, they emerge from their winter quarters, and com- 

 mence to feed upon the tips of the plants. The sexes pair, and the fe- 

 male deposits her eggs upon any portion of the exposed shoots. The eggs 

 hatch m an average period of eight days. The larvae eat voraciously 

 and grow rapidly, so that they complete their growth in about twelve 

 days. They then leave the plants and enter the earth for a short dis- 



