REPORT OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST 1903 143 



ing, will result in severely checking this pest [see New York State 

 Museum Bulletin 72]. 



Garden insects 



Asparagus beetle (Crioceris asparagi Linn.). The 

 common asparagus beetle as recorded in our 15th report, page 540, 

 has attained a wide distribution over the State, though our 

 records limit it almost entirely to the lower Hudson and Mohawk 

 river valleys and the western portion of the State in the vicinity 

 of the lakes. We were therefore somewhat surprised to receive a 

 communication from Mr 0. L. Williams of Glens Falls, Warren 

 CO., accompanied by specimens, stating that this species had 

 become well established in that vicinity and was known to occur 

 in some numbers over an area several miles in extent. This is 

 the northernmost locality known to us, for the species in New 

 York. 



Cabbage maggot (Phorbia brassicae Bouch^) . This lit- 

 tle pest of the market gardener was unusually abundant and 

 destructive this season. Its depredations on early cabbages at- 

 tracted considerable attention in Genesee county, it was credited 

 with having destroyed one fourth of the crop in St Lawrence 

 county, and with working to some extent in Cattaraugus county 

 and other sections of the State. The life history of this little pest 

 may be summarized briefly as follows: the adult insects appear 

 in the early spring, the precise time depending somewhat on cli- 

 matic and other conditions. They are, however, usually abroad 

 in time to deposit eggs around early set plants, finding some crev- 

 ice in which they may creep and place their eggs close to the stem. 

 These remain unhatched for a period variously stated as from 4 

 to 10 days when the young grubs issue, attack the surface of the 

 root and rasp a burrow into its tissues. They destroy first the 

 smaller rootlets and then begin operations on the main root. 

 They are frequently found in slimy burrows just beneath the sur- 

 face of the stem. There are usually so many maggots that all are 

 unable to find retreats within the tissues, and consequently many 

 of them lie near the surface, which is kept moist by the juices 

 from the injured parts. The wilting of the plant is the most 



