176 . EXPERIMENTAL FARMS. 
63 VICTORIA, A. 1900 
species were about equally numerous on the infested beds. In the United States 
the 12-spotted Asparagus Beetle is regarded as rarer and less injurious than the 
common species. Although the hibernated beetles appear equally early in the season with 
the Common Asparagus Beetle and attack the young shoots, Mr. Chittenden states 
(Bull. 10, n.s., U.S, Div. Ent.) that the larve live chiefly in the green and ripe fruit of the 
Asparagus. There are, however, several records of serious injury by this species in 
early spring to the growing crop. Mr. Chittenden has described the eggs and the 
method of oviposition as different from those of the Common Asparagus Beetle (Bull. 
10). Instead of being attached by one end and having the surface sculptured, these are 
attached to the plant by their sides as shown natural size and enlarged (Fig. 14). The 
larva also differs much (Fig. 14 6, c). Mr. Chittenden thinks that these larve live almost 
entirely in the berries, each one passing from one that it has excavated to a fresh one 
when in need of food. The berry drops off soon after the larva enters it, and the first 
brood of the beetles matures long before the berries redden on the plants. The same 
writer also gives the following very accurate description of some of the habits :—It is 
about the same size and proportions as the larva of the common species but is readily 
separable by its ochraceous orange colour. The ground colour is light yellowish cream 
overlaid with ochraceous orange ; the head, with the exception of the mouth parts, is 
also ochraceous. Thoracic plate dark brown divided into two parts. 
Mr. Chittenden gives the following very accurate description of some of the 
habits of these insects :—‘ The Twelve-spotted Asparagus beetle, as it occurs on the 
plant when in fruit, very closely resembles at a little distance the ripening asparagus 
berries. The Common Asparagus Beetle, as is well known, dodges around a stem like a 
squirrel when disturbed, but the Twelve-spotted form appears to trust to flight, taking wing 
more readily than the other. Both species make a loud creaking sound when handled. 
This stridulation is produced by rubbing the tip of the abdomen against the elytra.” 
Figures 10 to 14 in this article have been kindly lent by Dr. L. O. Howard the 
U. 8. Entomologist. 
Remedies.—Owing to the inadvisability of applying any poisonous substances to the 
young shoots in spring, at the time they are being cut for the market, with the object of 
destroying the hibernated beetles, remedies should be’directed mainly against the larvee 
which appear on the plants during the summer. There are many useful measures which 
may be taken to control these insects :— 
1. Dusting with lime.—Perhaps the most effective is the destruction of the larve 
by dusting the plants at short intervals, every three or four days, with fresh air-slaked 
lime, which adheres to their slimy bodies and quickly kills all those with which it comes. 
into contact. This is best done early in the morning when dew is on the plants. 
2. Arsenites.—Active poisons, as a mixture of Paris green and flour, or Paris green 
and lime, applied dry to the grown stems in the same way as for the Colorado Potato 
Beetle, answer well, and kill not only by contact with the larve but destroy both the 
larve and the perfect beetles when they eat the poisoned foliage. 
3. Beating.—The beetles and many larve may be beaten from the asparagus plants 
es into nets or broad pans containing water and 
coal oil. Nets made specially for the purpose 
are most convenient. A good pattern for an 
easily made net which can be held beneath 
the plants with one hand while the insects 
are beaten down on to it with a light rod, has 
a stick on each side and a fiat sheet of cotton 
between, three feet wide at the top and 
one foot at the bottom (Fig. 15). Two cross 
bars close together at the base allow of this net 
being easily held by taking the upper bar in the 
left hand, so that the lower bar rests against the 
back of the wrist. The larve may also be 
brushed off the plant with a stick, and, if this is 
done in the middle of a hot day, it is claimed 
r that few of them get back again, a very short 
time in the hot sun proving fatal. 
Fig. 15.—Beating net. 
