38 
A simple method of killing the larve in hot weather is to beat or 
brush them from the plants with a stick so that they will drop to the 
heated earth, where they die, being unable to regain the shelter of the 
plants. 
With concerted action in following out any of these methods the 
insects may be held in check, at least in regions where asparagus does 
not grow wild in too great profusion. 
THE TWELVE-SPOTTED ASPARAGUS BEETLE. 
( Crioceris 12-punctata Linn. ) 
The presence of this insect in America was first detected in 1881, 
and it is still much rarer and consequently less injurious than the pre- 
ceding species. In Europe, where it is apparently native, it is com- 
mon, but not especially destructive. 
The chief source of damage from this species is from the work of 
‘the hibernated beetles in early spring upon the young and edible 
asparagus shoots. Later beetles, as well as larvee, appear to feed exclu- 
sively on the berries. The eggs are deposited singly, and, apparently 
by preference, upon old 
plants toward the ends 
of shoots, which, lower 
down, bear ripening ber- 
ries, and they areattached 
along their sides instead 
of at one end, as is the 
case with the eggs of the 
common species. Soon 
after the larva hatches 
from the egg it finds its 
way to an asparagus 
berry, enters it, and feeds 
Fic. 17.—Twelve-spotted asparagus beetle: a, beetle; b, larva; upon the pulp. In due 
c, second abdominal segment of larva; d, same of common : : ° 
asparagus beetle—a, b, enlarged, c, d, more enlarged (from time it leaves this first 
Chittenden, Yearbook U. 8. Department of Agriculture, 1896). berry for another one, 
and when full growth is 
attained it deserts its last larval habitation and enters the earth, where 
it transforms to pupaand afterwards to the adult beetle. The life cycle 
does not differ materially from that of the common species, and there 
are probably the same or nearly as many generations developed. 
This species is at present distributed throughout the asparagus- 
growing country in the southern two-thirds of New Jersey, particularly 
in the vicinity of the Delaware River; the whole of Delaware, nearly the 
entire State of Maryland, the District of Columbia, the southeastern 
portion of Pennsylvania bordering the State line of New Jersey, and 

