NOTES ON THE ASPARAGUS BEETLES. 9 



enable the poison to adhere better to smooth plants, 100 per cent of 

 the insects were killed on the 50 plants treated. In this case the 

 arsenate of lead was used at the rate of about 1 pound to 24 gallons of 

 water, and 2^ pounds of soap were added. 



Arsenate of lead has been used with satisfactory results on asparagus 

 at the rate of 1 pound in 16 to 24 gallons of water. Additional experi- 

 ments are necessar}- to ascertain the exact amount of the poison that can 

 be used economically to produce the best effect. In Professor Surface's 

 experiments evidentl}' only a single spray was applied. 



THE TWELVE-SPOTTED ASPARAGUS BEETLE. 



( Crioceris 12-punctata L. ) 



Nearly every year since 1896, when the distribution of the twelve- 

 spotted asparagus beetle was recorded b}^ the wa-iter," the appearance 

 of this species has been noted in new localities in the United States, 

 until it is now well distributed westward and especialh' northward. 



In 1898 Dr. J. B. Smith stated that it then occurred throughout the 

 State of New Jersey "south of the shale from the Atlantic coast to the 

 Delaware.'' The following year (1899) it was recorded by Dr. E. P. 

 Felt from different counties in New York, and as far west as Buffalo. 

 In some places the species was abundant, while in some near-by locali- 

 ties it could not be found, showing that it was still locally distributed 

 through New York. It was afterwards recorded present in Albany, 

 Batavia, Leroy, Syracuse, Riverhead, Oswego, Center, Glendale, 

 Richmond Hill, Penfield, Elmira, Geneva, Ithaca, and about Brooklyn, 

 N. Y. It was also stated to occur in the Niagara district in Canada as 

 far back as Hamilton, Ontario. 



An interesting point in regard to the occurrence of asparagus beetles 

 in the Niagara peninsula was that the two species appeared to have 

 arrived almost simultaneously in that region, but that the twelve- 

 spotted form was by far the more conuuon one. In after years dif- 

 ferent observers noted its further spread in Canada, connnenting upon 

 the fact that it led the common species in becoming diffused by natural 

 means. By 1902 it had appeared in Connecticut, at New Haven, and 

 later in other parts of that State. 



Since some writers on these asparagus beetles have overlooked the 

 author's second article* it may be well to mention that facts additional 

 to those printed in the writer's original article are given therein, 

 including a description and illustration of the Qgg and its manner of 

 deposition, and what is practicall}' a complete account of the life his- 

 tor}^ of the species, the insect being found to develop and to feed where 

 possible almost exclusively on the berry, although the beetles attack 

 young asparagus shoots before the berries appear. 



" Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agric. f. 1896 (1897), i>p. :i50-.S51. 

 &Bul. 10, Div. Eut., U. S. Dept. Agric, pp. 57-59, 1898. 



