Insects Injurious 



UNIVERSITY 



n Vegetables, 



ASPARAGUS. 

 THE ASPARAGUS BEETLE. 



(Crioceris asparagi, Linn.) 



About 1860, the Asparagus Beetle was accidentally in- 

 troduced into Long Island, N. Y., from the other side of 

 the Atlantic; and in a very few years it had increased 

 and multiplied, among the extensive asparagus planta- 

 tions in that locality, to such an extent as to occasion a 

 dead loss of some fifty thousand dollars in a single 

 county. In the year 1868, it had 

 already crossed over from Long 

 Island on to the adjoining main land; 

 and thence was spread westward. 



That our readers may recognize 

 at once this pernicious insect as soon 

 as they see it, we annex figures of it 

 in its various stages. The perfect 

 beetle (shown at a, fig. 12, much 

 enlarged, the lines indicating the 

 real size), is of a deep blue-black 

 color, with the thorax brick-red, 

 and some markings of very variable 

 shape and size on the side of its 

 wing-cases. The eggs (b) are gen- 

 erally attached to the leaves of the 

 growing asparagus, and are of a 

 blackish color. The larva (magnified at c) is of a dull 

 ash color, with a black head and six black legs placed at 

 15 



Fig. 12. 



ASPARAGUS BEETLE. 



( Crioceris asparagi. ) 

 a, Beetle ; ft, Eggs ; c, Larva. 



