5 
ties. The species has also been reported in Wisconsin, but nothing 
has been learned regarding its actual distribution in that State. 
HABITS AND LIFE HISTORY. 
The common asparagus beetle passes the winter in the adult state 
under convenient shelter, such as piles of rubbish, sticks, or stones, 
or under the loose bark of trees and fence 
posts. Toward the end of April or in May, 
according to locality, at about the season for 
Fic. 38.—Common asparagus beetle (Crioceris asparagi): a, Beetle; b, egg; c, newly 
hatched larva; d, full-grown larva; e, pupa. All enlarged (author's illustration). 
cutting the asparagus for market, the beetles issue from their hiber- 
nating quarters and lay the eggs for the first brood. 
The egg is very large in proportion to the beetle, being nearly a 
sixteenth of an inch in length, and of the elongate-oval form illus- 
trated at > (fig. 3). It is nearly three times as long as wide and of a 
dark-brown color. The eggs are deposited endwise upon the stem or 
foliage and in early spring on the developing 
stalks, usually in rows of 2 to 7 or more (fig. 4). 
In from three to eight days the eggs hatch, 
the young larve, commonly called “ grubs” or 
“worms,” presenting the appearance indicated 7 
in fig. 8, ¢. The head of the newly hatched larva g 
is large, black, and bead-like; its body is gray; 
and its three pairs of legs, black. It at once be- 
gins to feed, and is from ten days to a fortnight, 4 
according to Fitch and others, in attaining full WERE SULT ia. 
size. When full grown the larva appears as in — asparagi) on asparagus 
fig. 3, d. It is soft and fleshy, much wrinkled, 7%, pee a 
and of a dark gray or olive color, sometimes light, 
but not infrequently very dark. The head is shining black, as are also 
the six legs. Each segment is provided with a pair of foot-like tuber- 
cles, which, with the anal proleg, assist it in crawling and in clinging 
to the plant. The mature larva enters the earth, and here, within a 
little rounded, dirt-covered cocoon which it forms, the pupa state is 
[Cir. 102] 
