INSECTS INJURIOUS TO MISCELLANEOUS CROPS 379 



Both adults and larvae feed upon the tender asparagus shoots 

 in the spring and later attack the fruiting plants. Their attacks 

 render the shoots unfit for market and in many cases their injury 

 has been so severe as to make it extremely difficult to establish 

 new beds. 



Life History. The beetles hibernate over winter under what- 

 ever rubbish or shelter may be available near the asparagus 

 patch. About the season that cutting asparagus for market 

 commences they appear and lay the eggs for the first new brood 



FIG. 317. The asparagus-beetle (Crioceris asparagi Linn.): eggs, larva, and 

 beetle all much enlarged. (Photos by W. E. Britton.) 



The egg is dark brown, oval, nearly one-sixteenth of an inch 

 long and is laid on end. The eggs are deposited upon the stems 

 or foliage, usually two to seven or more in a row. They hatch 

 in from three to eight days. The young larvse at once com- 

 mence to attack the tender shoots, and later in the season feed 

 upon the foliage. They become full grown in from ten days 

 to two weeks. The full grown larva, as shown in the illustra- 

 tion, is about one-third of an inch long, soft and fleshy, much 

 wrinkled, and of a dark gray or olive color, with black head 

 and legs. The mature larva drops to the ground and just be- 

 neath the surface forms a little rounded earth-covered cocoon 

 within which it changes to the pupa > from which the beetle 



