7 
these are Polistes pallipes Lep. and Ischnura (Nehalennia) posita 
Hagen. These insects hover about the infested plants until a larva 
is descried, when they pounce upon it and carry it away. 
Asparagus beetles are very susceptible to sudden changes of tem- 
perature, and it has been frequently noticed by Mr. C. W. Prescott, of 
Concord, Mass., that immense numbers of the hibernating beetles are 
killed in winter during severely cold spells following “ open ” weather, 
millions of their dead bodies being sometimes found under bark and 
in other hiding places. 
The intense heat that prevailed at times during the summer of 1896, 
especially during the first two weeks of August, though conducive to 
the undue propagation of some forms of insects, had the opposite 
effect upon certain species that feed in the larval condition freely ex- 
posed upon the plants. In the vicinity of the District of Columbia 
this was particularly noticeable in the case of the larve of this aspara- 
Fic. 5.—Bordered soldier-bug (Stiretrus anchorago) : a, Adult bug; b, last stage 
of nymph. Both enlarged (author's illustration). 
gus beetle. Its eggs also seemed to be dried up by the heat. What 
with the decimation caused by their natural enemies and the heat, 
scarcely a beetle or larva was to be found that year after the last of 
August. 
REMEDIES. 
Fortunately, the common asparagus beetle is not difficult of control, 
and ordinarily may be held in restraint by the simplest means. 
Hand-picking is of value in small beds but must of necessity give 
way to more approved methods for the vast numbers of the beetles 
that concentrate their forces upon the large areas devoted to this 
crop in the suburbs of our large cities. 
Chickens and ducks are efficient destroyers of asparagus beetles, 
and as they do no injury to the plant their services are still in requi- 
sition for this purpose at the present day. 
[Cir 102] 
