INSECTS, DISEASES, AND SPRAYING 63 
attack the crown of the strawberry, the crown 
miner being one of the more important. This 
is a small, reddish caterpillar that constructs 
or bores irregular passages through the crowns 
of the plants. No successful remedy has thus 
far been brought forth. Fields badly infested 
should be ploughed up. 
Another crown borer is the common white, 
footless, yellow-headed grub, so destructive 
in the strawberry fields of the Mississippi 
Valley, and the mid-West. The eggs are 
laid in the spring in the crowns of the plants. 
Soon after hatching the small worm or larva 
eats its way into the crown, hollowing out 
from one third to one half of the crown during 
the summer, or until the grub gets its growth. 
If more than one larva is excavating the same 
crown the plant is practically killed by their 
work. The rest stage is carried on in the 
cavity of the crown and the final change 
to a mature, small, dark-coloured snout- 
beetle is brought about in the same place. 
The adults come out in the autumn, feeding 
upon the plants and wintering not far from 
where they were hatched, as they are unable 
to fly. Egg laying begins early in the 
spring. 
