764 



KEPORT UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



forms a brown, oval cocoon of grains of dirt. Here it remains three 

 weeks in the pupa state, and by the third week in July the beetle 



appears. Mr. Curtis, 

 whose account we 

 have reproduced, 

 thinks that the female 

 lays its eggs in the 

 embryo pods. 



As it has not before 

 been noticed in this 

 country, and may be- 

 come in future years 

 more or less of a 



Fig. 32.— a, beetle ; c, larva ; b, pupa ; e, pod with hole out of Pl^"^"^' ^^ . SJ ve a 

 which the grub has come ; d, earthen cocoon. From Curtis, brief description of 

 The right-hand figure drawn from an American specimen, the insect : 



Descnption. — The beetle is minute and pale gray, with a remarkably long, slender, 

 curved snout, from the middle of which arise the long elbowed, slender antennae ; the 

 basal joint is long and slender and succeeded by seven spherical joints ; the oval club 

 pale at tip, consisting of four joints. The body is black, but so densely covered with 

 gray, flattened hair and scales that it seems to be uniformly pale gray. These hairs 

 become broad, flattened scales on the sides of the body. The prothorax is triangular, 

 seen Jrom above, swollen on the sides, and the head, exclusive of the snout, is very 

 email. The body behind is unusually broad ; the wing-covers have each nine (Curtis 

 mentions only eight) longitudinal, line, punctate furrows, the ridges between being 

 much flattened. The legs are rather short, and pale gray, like the rest of the body. 

 Curtis mentions that the hiudermost thighs have a short, thick tooth beneath. I find 

 one on the thighs of both the middle and hind legs. However, the insect may be 

 considered identical with the European species, until proved otherwise by comparison 

 of specimens, as it has probably been imported in radish and turnip seed. 



INSECTS INFESTING LETTUCE. 



The Lettuce Earth-Louse, EMzobius lactucce Fitch. — On the roots of lettuce often 

 in great numbers; A'ery small, oval, white and pale-yellow lice, with dusky legs and 

 antenna;, their bodies dusted over with a white powder. 



These little lice belong to the family of true plant-lice (Aphidce), but 

 are always wingless, and with more of a white powder on the body than 

 usual in the family, in this respect resembling the coccus or scale-insects. 

 These little root-lice cluster about the roots of the lettuce, appearing 

 soon after the plants are up, and becoming more numerous toward the 

 end of the season. I have found them on the roots of the aster, and 

 they also occur on those of the verbena. By watering the earth around 

 the plants with tobacco-water they can be easily destroyed. 



INSECTS INFESTING ASPARAGUS. 



The European Asparagus-Beetle, Orioceris asparagi Linn. — Eating irregular, 

 rounded holes in the bark ; an oblong, shining blue-black beetle a quarter of an inch 

 long, with a red prothorax and head and three bright-yellow spots on each wing-cover ; 

 with a soft-bodied larva, thrice as long as thick, larger behind, of a dull ash-gray or 

 obscure olive, with a black head and legs. 



This beetle was first found in New York in 1858 or 1859, and in 1862 

 became very destructive on Long Island. Earlj^ in May, soon after the 

 season for cutting the asparagus for the market has begun, these beetles, 

 says Fitch, come forth from their winter-quarters and commence feed- 

 ing upon it, gnawing and marring it, and scattering their eggs upon 

 the stalks. The eggs are dark brown, small, .and are attached to the 

 stalk or leaves. They hatch in eight days, and the larva becomes fully 



