ASPARAGUS DISEASES— ASPARAGUS PESTS 



561 



Fi" J. Asparagus Stalk Four Feet Long. Four 

 Inches Wide and One Inch Thick. 



tendency under certain conditions, to 

 vary from the normal. The stalk which 

 this figure represents was about four 

 feet long, four inches wide, and one inch 

 thick. 



ASPARAGUS PESTS 



Asparagus Miner 



Agromyza simplex Loew 



General Appearance 



The adult flies have a wing expanse of 

 about one-si.xth of an inch and are metal- 

 lic-black in color. The maggots are one- 

 fifth of an inch long and white. The 

 puparia are one-seventh of an inch long 

 and red. 



Life History 



The first adult insects appear early in 

 the spring, other broods appearing later. 

 The larvae mine beneath the epidermis 

 of the stalks near the bases and may 

 penetrate eight inches underground. The 

 injury is often so severe as to completely 

 girdle the stems and thus do much dam- 

 age. The puparia are formed in the bur- 

 rows, especially on the roots and bases 

 of the stalks. There are at least two 

 generations each year. 



Distribution 



This fly has been reported from New 

 England to Tennessee and in California. 



Food Plant 



This pest works only upon asparagus 

 plants. 



Control 



The control of the fly is somewhat dif- 

 ficult and consists in the use of trap 

 crops early in the spring, which should 



be removed, roots and all, and burned 

 in June. Other traps should be allowed 

 to grow up immediately and similarly 

 destroyed in the fall. 



Cutting out all infested stalks as often 

 as they appear is also advisable. 



E. O. EssiG 



Common .Vsparagns Beetle 



Crioceris asparagi Linn. 



General Appearance 



The adult beetles are slightly less than 

 one-fourth of an inch in length and 

 very slender. The color is metallic blu- 

 ish-black with red thorax marked with 

 black dots. The reddish-yellow or cream 

 colored wing covers are marked with 

 black. The eggs are elongate, about one- 

 tenth of an inch long, dark brown or 

 black and stuck to the shoots by one 

 end. The larvae are shiny olive gray 

 with black head and legs. The pupal 

 stage is passed in the ground in a thin 

 cocoon, the pupae being yellowish in 

 color. 



Life History 



The adults hibernate during the winter 

 under any protective covering and appear 

 in the spring about the time the young 

 asparagus shoots are coming through the 

 ground. The adults immediately begin to 

 feed upon the tender sprouts and to lay 

 their eggs upon them. The eggs hatch in 

 about a week and the grubs begin to feed 

 upon the sprouts. The broods continue 

 to work throughout the summer eating 

 all parts of the asparagus plants. After 

 about two weeks the larvae are ready to 

 pupate. They then leave the plant and 

 work into the soil where |)upation takes 

 place and within eight or nine days 

 they emerge as adults. The entire life 

 cycle requires one month but there are 

 many overlapping generations each year. 



Distribntion 



New England, south and west to the 

 Mississippi, and in California. 



Food Plant 



So far as known, the pest feeds only 

 upon asparagus, attacking principally the 

 tender shoots but also working upon the 

 rind and stems of the older seed plants. 



