30 



full-grown, which takes from ten days to two weeks, after which 

 it leaves the plant, enters the ground and forms a small, rounded 

 cocoon within which it remains quiet for about a week, during 

 which time its structure is changing to that of the adult beetle. 

 "When this change is completed the beetle escapes to feed, mate 

 and lay eggs for the next brood. This brood has the same history 

 as the last, and it is probable that a third brood is produced during 

 the year, before cold weather drives the beetles into their winter 

 quarters. 



Fig. 1. — The asparagus beetle: a, adult beetle; the line beside it shows the real 

 length of the beetle. On the right a branch of asparagus, showing eggs, grubs and beetles, 

 natural size; also an asparagus tip with eggs, and places eaten out. {From Chittenden, 

 Yearbook, Depi. Agr., 1S96.) 



The adult beetle is rather less than a quarter of an inch long, 

 with a black head, red thorax, and yellow and dark blue wiug 

 covers, the blue forming a stripe along the middle of the back, 

 crossed near its middle by another of the same color and by a sim- 

 ilar one near the hinder end of the body. Along the sides of the 

 back the color becomes reddish. 



