59 
Periods in fhc insccfs life ci/cle. — The oxporiinoiitjil ]>lats at tlio T)o- 
partment were not a comi)lete success, iiiid as aconstMnienceexpeiiniciits 
oil them were not entirely satisfactory. 
The first beetles liberated on these plats were either not satislied with 
their snrroundin<;s i)V were molested and left, and attemi)ts to rear tiie 
species in contiuement were only partially successful. The e^:^^ i)eriod is 
without doubt the same as that of (J. Hspardf/i, as is also that of the i)ui)a, 
but the larval period can only be conjectured, ^'^gg^ that were laid June 
21, in moderately cool summer weather, hat(;hed June UG, or in five days. 
This beetle evideutly goes into hibernation at about the same time as 
the common species, i. e., some time in Septend)er, as no specimens Avere 
to be found upon the i)lants when searched for during the latter part of 
that month. 
. The species feeds normally on the her rif. — The adult beetles are inju- 
rious to asparagus by eating tiie heads of the young growing shoots in 
early spring and perhaps occasionally attack the foliage and stems, but 
aside from this do not, in the writer's experience, attack any portion of 
the plant but the berry when this can be obtained. The newly hatched 
larva, it is i)resumed, crawls from the egg to burrow into the nearest 
beriy, and leaves this again only to enter another. The berry drops off 
soon after the larva enters it, and the first generation of the beetle 
matures long before the berries redden on the plants. 
There is obviously little danger of this species being troublesome, 
except perhaps to seed-growers, from its attack on asparagus berries, 
as the plant bears quite a crop of fruit after the beetles have gone into 
winter quarters. 
Two European beetles, very closely related to the twelve-spotted 
asparagus beetle, feed upon this plant. These are Crioceris 14-punciata 
Scop., an inhabitant of western Europe, and C. 5 punctata Scop., which 
occurs in France, Germany, and Eussia. Neither of these appears to 
be injurious in their native homes, and would not be likely to prove 
troublesome if imported into America, as they j^robably have the same 
habit as 12-pnnctata of living upon the berries. 
The larva of the European cockchafer {Melolontha ndfjaris Fab.) is 
said to injure asparagus roots. 
THE TWELVE-SPOTTED CUCUMBER BEETLE. 
(Diahrotica IJ-punctata Ol.) 
Next after the asparagus beetles and the ladybirds this is the most 
abundant species on asparagus. It occurs on this plant everywhere 
and throughout the season, but is more frequently to be met with early 
in the j^ear while the flowers are in full bloom and before the blooming 
of the favorite food plants of its adult stage — cucumbers, squashes, 
and the like — but in the latitude of Washington returns again with the 
later flowering of asparagus, which this year was most noticeable in 
new shoots in the latter part of July. It has an especial fondness for 
the blossoms, which the beetles gnaw into and devour. 
