THE ASPARAGUS BEETLE : REMEDIES AND PREVENTIVES. 245 



tance or mere!}' conceal themselves beneatli dead leaves or other ma- 

 terial on the surface. Constructing a slight cocoon, they undergo their 

 transformation, and remain in their pupal state for about ten days. 

 Thirty days complete the cycle from the egg to the perfect insect. Al- 

 most as soon as the beetles emerge, they pair, as the sexual instinct is 

 strongly developed in them, as is shown iu the frequency in which they 

 come under our observation mated. The eggs are then deposited, and 

 the beetles continue to feed upon the plants, eating holes into the bark 

 of the more tender branches for several days: one was found by Dr. 

 Fitch to feed for a fortnight in confinement. A second brood results 

 from these, appearing about the first of July, followed by a third, 

 probably in August. Hence we have the larva? and the beetles with us, 

 in their successive broods, through the spring a,nd summer, into Sep- 

 tember. 



Remedies and Preventives. 



Hand-picking and heating. — Although this beetle has been known 

 for nearly a century in Europe as a serious asparagus pest, yet no other 

 remedies for its injuries, until very recently, have been suggested, so 

 far as we know, except that given by Kollar, who states that *' the 

 only means of destroying these insects is picking off and killing the 

 beetles and larvae," and by later writers, to shake them off into a pan of 

 water, when they may be crushed under foot, or killed by pouring 

 boiling water upon them. These methods would obviously be inef- 

 fectual for the destruction of the hosts that concentrate in our large 

 plantations of this highly prized esculent on the sea-board, sometimes 

 twenty acres in extent, or inthecven lai-ger plantations now cultivated 

 in England. 



Fowls for hunting them. — The only recommendation that Dr. Fitch, 

 at the time of his writing, was able to make, was to turn in a flock of 

 fowls and permit them to range over the plantation. They pursue 

 with avidity the beetles, which are evidently attractive morsels to them, 

 and they do not molest the plants — the asparagus being an exception 

 to their fondness for many of the garden vegetables. 



Lime dusting. — Mr. A. S. Fuller, of Kidgewood, N. J., has furnished 

 to the American Entomologist, for January, 1880, a method for destroy- 

 ing this pest, which, as it presents the result of his personal experience, 

 seems to be all that is needed for the purpose. Shortly after its appear- 

 ance on Long Island, it was discovered, according to Mr. Fuller, that 

 freshly-slacked lime, scattered over the plants, would instantly kill 



*The largest cultivator in Deptford lias eichty acres entirely laid out in asparagus beds. 

 — Lib. Entertain. -Knowl., Veg. Subst., p. 270. 



