MISCELLANEOUS GARDEN INSECTS 



425 



sometimes forming submarginal spots, while in other specimens it 

 becomes so diffused as to form the principal color of the wing- 

 covers. 



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. 



FIG. 305. The asparagus-beetle (Crioceris asparagi Linn.): eggs, larva, and 

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



About the season that cutting asparagus for market commences 

 they appear and lay the eggs for the first new brood. 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 larvae at once commence 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 illustration, is about one-third of an inch long, soft 



