ASPARAGUS BEETLE. iL 
and long thread-like horns are blackish ; body behind the head red, 
with two black spots; and the wing-cases ochrey yellow, with a black 
stripe down the centre, and a branch from each side of it of a bluish 
shiny black, which together form a kind of cross. Besides these there 
are other black markings on the yellow ground, especially of spots or 
patches at the tip and base of the wing, sometimes so various that in 
the five specimens before me each one is differently marked from 
the others. 
The little spindle-shaped dark eggs (figured at p. 10) are only about 
one-sixteenth of an inch in length, and may be found in great numbers 
sometimes, arranged in rows, and fastened by one end to the shoots 
or leaves, or unopened flower-buds. 
The grubs are of a kind of slate or dirty greenish colour with black 
head and legs, a little more than a quarter of an inch long, somewhat 
rounded at the sides, and enlarged behind the middle. From their 
power of curling the tail extremity (which is furnished at the end with 
a fleshy foot) round the slender spray or whatever they may be feeding 
on, the grubs are hard to remove, and on disturbance they emit a 
large drop of fluid from the mouth. ‘They are full-fed in a fortnight, 
when they go down into the ground, and form parchment-like cocoons, 
in which they turn to the chrysalis (7.e. pupal) state, and from which, 
in summer, the beetles come out in about a fortnight or three weeks, 
and as the females lay eggs very shortly after development, the infes- 
tation may be found in all stages till autumn. 
Then, though I am not aware whether this part of the life-history 
has been observed in this country, on the Continent it is recorded 
that, instead of going rapidly through all its changes as before, the 
infestation remains in chrysalis state through the winter, from which 
the beetles come out in early summer. 
On August 21st very plentiful samples of badly gnawed Asparagus- 
shoots, together with specimens of the beetles and grubs, were sent 
me by Mr. Wm. F. Wratislaw from Rugby, with detailed notes of 
observation, of which I extract some as of practical interest. Mr. 
Wratislaw observed :— 
‘T beg to forward specimens of a grub and beetle which for some 
weeks back have been working the Asparagus beds. My attention was 
first called to the beds by a friend asking if I could find out what was 
the cause of his Asparagus bed dying off and turning yellow and 
strawy (so early), as is common when the beds dry off at the end of 
summer. I looked round and found these bluish grey grubs varying 
in size from about one-eighth to over a quarter of an inch in length 
(the latter about the biggest). They are very tenacious, not at all 
given to fall off, or throw themselves off, as do the Gooseberry and 
Currant grubs, but hold on firm.”’ 
