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The Common Asparagus-beetle 
Crioceris asparagi Linn. 
Both beetles and larvae of this species cause injury by feeding on 
the young shoots as they appear above ground, and by defoliating 
the plants later in the season. In the first case the young shoots are 
rendered unsalable or of poor quality, while the loss of foliage 
greatly weakens the plants, especially seedlings. 
Fig. 2. Common Asparagus-beetle, Crioceris asparagi: a, beetle; 
b, egg; c, newly hatched larva; d, full-grown larva; 
e, pupa. Enlarged as indicated. (Chittenden.) 
The beetle (Fig. 2, a) is one-sixth to one- fourth of an inch in 
length, and is gaily colored, the thorax being reddish, and the elytra, 
or wing-covers, more or less striped with lemon-yellow and dark 
blue, and having a reddish border. Early in spring, at the time of 
the first cutting of asparagus, the beetles emerge from their winter 
quarters and lay their conspicuous, yellowish, slender eggs (Fig. 
2, b) end to end, in rows of eight or less, on the stalks or leaves of 
the asparagus plants. In our experiments a single female, in con- 
finement with a male beetle, laid a total of 386 eggs during her life 
of 29 days — from May 13 to June 11. In about a week the eggs 
hatch into "grubs," or larvae (Fig. 2, c), which immediately begin 
to feed. These become full grown (Fig. 2, (/) in about two weeks, 
or less, at which time they are a quarter of an inch in length, or 
slightly shorter, fleshy, and of an olive color. The mature larvae go 
into the earth and change to pupae (Fig. 2, e) just beneath the 
surface. 
They remain in this condition nine to twelve days, and then 
change to beetles, which, in turn, come out of the ground and lay 
eggs for a second generation. The beetles of this generation go 
into hibernation in the fall, about the middle of September in ordi- 
nary seasons. It is not certain that there are but two broods a year 
in Illinois; the life history has not been completely worked out for 
this state, but observations made in northern Illinois indicate that in 
ordinary seasons from two to three broods occur there. We have 
