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Ckioceris asparagi, Linn. (The Asparagus Beetle.) 



This is an imported insect, and so far as I am aware, lias not yet 

 reached Illinois; but as introduced .species often prove our worst in- 

 sect enemies, I give a short account of it here for the benefit of our 

 gardeners. 



It is of a deep blue-black color ; the thorax is red; the wing cases 

 also have some markings on them. It is about .one-fourth of an inch 

 long and half as wide across the wing-cases, which are broader than 

 the thorax. The asparagus appears to be its chief food plant. The 

 eggs, which are generally attached to" the leaves, are of a blackish 

 color. The larvae are rather thick grubs enlarged and arched in the 

 middle, of a dull ash color, with a black head and black legs. 



The first brood hatches out, in the latitude of New York, about the 

 middle of June; complete their growth by the erd of the month or 

 first of July and descend to the ground to undergo their transforma- 

 tions. By the middle of August the second brood appears ; and hav- 

 ing completed their transformations in September, pass the winter in 

 the perfect or beetle state. 



Remedies — The asparagus growers of Long Island adopt the fol- 

 lowing method of counteracting this species : Early in the spring, 

 when the beetle has made its appearance, they destroy all the aspara- 

 gus plants except the larger ones intended for market, hoeing up all 

 the young seedlings that start from the first years seed every spring. 

 The beetle is thereby forced to lay her eggs on the large shoots from 

 the old stools, and as these are cut every few days, the eggs fail to 

 hatch out into larvae. 



Spec. char. Imago — Blue black or greenish; thorax slightly convex, 

 reddish, shining, punctured, with two small blue black spots and 

 streaks, sometimes 'united, at others almost obliterated; wing-cases 

 dusky yellowish color, suture and a short branch on each side forming 

 a cross, blue black; a blue-black spot on each wing case near the front 

 and another near the tip, but these are variable, often running into 

 the middle one; legs a shining blue black occasionally with a rust- 

 colored ring around the base of the tibae. 



Lema trilineata. Oliv. (The Three-lined Potato Beetle. )• 



The potato appears to be subject to the attacks of quite 

 a number of insects, among which is this species. The 

 beetle is about a quarter of an inch in length and half as 

 wide across the wing cases; the sides are parallel; the 

 thorax, Avhich is of a shining orange-yellow color, is nar- 

 rower than the elytra; the antennae are slightly enlarged 

 toward the extremity, dull black; the wing cases are lemon 

 yellow, with a broad, shining black stripe on each near the 

 ma^ I0C Tiui S .iNE- outer margin, the inner margins black, so that when 

 ata, oiiv. closed they form a central black stripe, thus showing 

 three black stripes from which the species derives its name trilineata, 

 or three-lined. 



There are other beetles which, at a hasty glance, may readily be 



