54 
INSECTS THAT AFFECT ASPARAGUS. 
By F. H. CHITTENDEN. 
Since the preparation for publication in the Yearbook of the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture for 1896 of the writer’s article entitled ‘The 
Asparagus Beetles,” observations have been continued on these two 
species of Crioceris, particular attention being directed toward C. 12- 
punctata, as its life economy has not been fully understood. Such other 
species of insects as have been observed on asparagus in the present as 
weli as in past years have also received attention and the results are 
embodied in the present paper. 
Few imported plants enjoy so nearly complete immunity from the 
attacks of native insects as does asparagus. Its foliage is sufficiently 
succulent and palatable to suit the taste of many insects, but it is noé 
apparently preferred to other older and more natural food plants. 
Such insects as have been found feeding upon this plant appear to eat 
it with perfect relish, and several species are of almost constant ocecur- 
rence in asparagus beds wherever the plant is cultivated. 
In the preparation of this article an effort has been made to include 
every species of native insect that is known to attack the asparagus, 
and it embraces some few brief references to Kuropean species that 
infest this plant, as it is from the insects that feed naturally upon 
asparagus that we look for troublesome forms. 
THE COMMON ASPARAGUS BEETLE. 
(Crioceris asparagi Linn. ) 
The time of earliest appearance of this species in a locality, appears 
to be directly limited to its food supply. Thus, during the spring of 
1897 it was not found at Cabin John Bridge, Maryland, until the 
appearance of the asparagus shoots in the beds in the last week in 
April; and larvee, just hatched, were not noticed till the second week 
of May, while the saine week larvie nearly mature were observed at 
Suitsville, Md., both localities within five miles of the District of 
Columbia. At Suitsville the first adults of the new brood undoubtedly 
appeared in May, and under ordinary conditions this brood appears 
during the latter half of the month in the latitude of the District 
of Columbia. The beetles disappeared for hibernation some time in 
September. 
It was noticed this year that, although the eggs are deposited chiefly 
upon young and tender plants on all parts of a plant, oviposition 
apparently occurs early in the season and upon later young growths, 
in which respect it differs from C. 12-punctata, and that the unopened 
buds are the favorite place for egg deposit. Often a bud is found with 
a single egg upon it, and more often a row will extend from this down 
the bud-stem. As many as eleven have more than once been observed 
in these rows. It is not a normal habit to place one egg upon the end 
