I30 ASPARAGUS 



in its different stages, asparagus top at the right show- 

 ing eggs and injnn,'. 



The duration of the life cycle is about thirty days 

 from the time the eggs are laid until the insects attain 

 maturity, but the time is shorter in the hotter parts of 

 a season than in the cooler days of May or September. 

 In the District of Columbia the eggs, in the warmest 

 part of midsummer, develop in three days and the 

 pupae in five days. From this it may be estimated 

 that, in the ver>^ warmest weather, the development of 

 the insedl may be effected in about three weeks from 

 the time the egg is laid. In colder climates and in 

 spring and autumn the development from egg to beetle 

 will require from four to perhaps seven weeks. In the 

 northern range of the species, two and perhaps three 

 broods are usually produced, and farther sGathward 

 there is a possibility of at least a fourth generation. In 

 the latitude of the Districl; of Columbia the beetles 

 usually disappear to enter into hibernation in the lat- 

 ter days of September. 



The common asparagus beetle has very efficient 

 checks in the shape of predaceous insedts, which prey 

 upon its lar\'ae and assist in preventing its undue in- 

 crease. One of the most active of these predaceous 

 insedls is the spotted ladybird {^Megilla maadata DeG. ) , 

 represented in its several stages in the illustration (Fig. 

 44.) The adult of this beetle is rose-colored, with 

 numerous black spots. The spined soldier-bug {Podi- 

 sns spinostis Dal.) and the bordered soldier-Dug '^^V/- 

 retrus anchorado Fab.) are also useful as destroj^ers of 

 asparagus beetle larvae, which they catch and kill by 

 impaling them upon their long beaks and sucking out 



