THE ASPARAGUS MINER. 3 



they reappeared and were then usually seen in copula. It was sur- 

 mised at the time that this second appearance indicated the first new 

 generation of the year and its abundance on asparagus seemed to show 

 that it lived in some manner at the expense of that plant. Examina- 

 tion of asparagus plants at that time, however, failed to show attack.** 



In 1900 complaints of injuries were made in the District of Colum- 

 bia, and at Knoxville, Tenn., and in the meantime the species came 

 under the observation of Mr. F. A. Sirrine, who stated^ that work 

 was first observed in asparagus fields on Long Island in 1896. Late 

 in September, 1900, word was received of injury to asparagus from 

 Tennallytown, D. C. When the writer visited the field, although 

 injury was apparent on the outer skin of some stalks, no living 

 specimens could be obtained, only tlie dried puparia being in evidence 

 at that time. October 2 of the same year, Mr. Samuel M. Bain, 

 University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tenn., sent a stalk of asparagus 

 showing the work of this miner upon the skin, and, October 27, 

 specimens of the dried puparia. 



February 18, 1901, it was reported at Philadelphia, Pa., that this 

 insect seemed to cause much greater trouble than the common 

 asparagus beetle. Two or three new beds of asparagus were lost on 

 account of its ravages. 



By the writer's direction, Mr. F. C. Pratt visited a truck farm at 

 Brodkland, D. C, where asparagus was one of the main crops, June 

 18, 1902. Asparagus was still being cut for market, but volunteer 

 plants were growing here and there in fields of corn, cantaloupe, and 

 potatoes, between rows. A few flies were seen on terminal shoots of 

 asparagus that showed wilting, and many volunteer plants were 

 badly infested, most individuals having transformed to pupae. 

 Although stems break off just below tlie ground, the entire colony of 

 insects below that point is left with sufficient moisture and nourish- 

 ment for their maintenance. The puparia were present in great 

 numbers underneath the outer skin of the root, and as many as nine 

 puparia were counted in a space only an inch long on one stalk. The 

 stalks below the point of injury appeared to be perfectly sound. 

 Larvae also were found in rotting stalks that broke off just below 

 ground. 



During September, 1906, Messrs. J. B. Norton and A. D. Shamel, 

 of the Bureau of Plant Industry, furnished stems of asparagus from 

 Concord, Mass., showing severe infestation by this species, many 

 puparia being present under the mined outer skin. In the neighbor- 

 hood of Concord, a very important asparagus-growing region where 

 hundreds of acres are devoted to this crop, infestation was practi- 

 cally absolute, the insect being as abundant as the common asparagus 



a Bui. 10, n. a., Div. Ent.. U. S. Dept. Agric, p. 62, 1898. 

 &Bul. 189, N. Y. Agric. Exp. Sta., p. 277, Geneva, 1900. 



