96 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETABLES 



One of the best remedies against the larvae is fresh, air-slaked 

 lime dusted on the plants in the early morning while the dew 

 is on. It quickly destroys all the grubs with which it comes 

 in contact. 



The arsenicals, applied dry in powder mixed with lime, an- 

 swer well, and possess the advantage of destroying beetles as 

 well as grubs, and are of value upon plants that are not being 

 cut for food. To produce satisfactory results the lime or arsenite 

 must be applied at frequent intervals, or as often as the larvae 

 reappear on the beds. Arsenate of lead is an excellent remedy. 



A simple method of killing the larvae in hot weather is to 

 brush them from the plants so that they will drop to the heated 

 earth, where they die before being able to return. 



The Twelve-spotted Asparagus Beetle {Crioceris 12-punctata 

 Linn.). — The chief source of damage from this species is from 

 the work of the hibernated beetles in early spring on young and 

 edible asparagus shoots. Later the beetles as well as larvae ap- 

 pear to feed exclusively on the berries. The eggs are deposited 

 singly, and apparently by preference, on old plants toward the 

 ends of shoots, which, lower down, bear ripening berries, and 

 they are attached along their sides instead of at one end, as 

 with the common species. Soon after the larva hatches from 

 the tgg it finds its way to an asparagus berry, enters it, and 

 feeds upon the pulp. In due time it leaves this berry for an- 

 other one, and when full growth is attained it deserts its last 

 habitation and enters the earth, where it transforms to pupa 

 and afterwards to the beetle. The life cycle does not differ 

 materially from that of the common species, and there are 

 probably as many generations developed. 



This species is at present distributed throughout nearly the 

 same territory of the North as the preceding. The beetle rivals 

 the common asparagus species in beauty, but may be distin- 

 guished by its much broader wing-covers and color. It is orange 

 red, and each wing-cover is marked with six black dots, and the 

 knees and a portion of the under surface of the thorax are also 



