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Species Crioceris asparagi - Asparagus Beetle

C. asparagi eggs - Crioceris asparagi Asparagus Beetle - Crioceris asparagi Crioceris asparagi Asparagus Beetle - Crioceris asparagi - male - female Asparagus Beetle - Crioceris asparagi # 100 - Crioceris asparagi Asparagus Beetle larva 2 - Crioceris asparagi Asparagus Beetle - Crioceris asparagi - male - female
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder Polyphaga
No Taxon (Series Cucujiformia)
Superfamily Chrysomeloidea (Longhorn and Leaf Beetles)
Family Chrysomelidae (Leaf Beetles)
Subfamily Criocerinae
Tribe Criocerini
Genus Crioceris
Species asparagi (Asparagus Beetle)
Other Common Names
Common Asparagus Beetle (1)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Crioceris asparagi (Linnaeus)
Orig. Comb: Chrysomela asparagi Linnaeus 1758
Identification
Smooth, shiny, slightly elongated. Has metallic blue head and bluish-black elytra, each with three yellowish, squared spots and a red outer margin. Thorax is reddish with two small blue spots.
Distinctive but highly variable
Range
adventive, widespread in N. America (NB-BC to GA-CA)(2)
Native to w. Palaearctic (Spain to C. Asia)(3)
Food
Asparagus officinalis (Liliaceae)(4)
Life Cycle
Overwinter as adults. Emerge in early spring. Eggs are elongate, dark brown in color, and attached by one end to the host plant. They hatch in 3 to 8 days, larvae feed for 10 to 14 days. Pupate in silken cocoons in chambers in the soil. They take 5 to 10 days.

Eggs, several larval instars
Remarks
earliest record in our area: NY 1862(1)
Works Cited
1.Introduced Leaf Beetles of the Maritime Provinces, 6: The Common Asparagus Beetle... and the Twelve-Spotted Asparagus Beetle...
LeSage, L., E.J. Dobesberger, and C.G. Majka. 2008. Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash. 110(3):602-621.
2.Catalog of Leaf Beetles of America North of Mexico
Ed Riley, Shawn Clark, and Terry Seeno. 2003. Coleopterists Society.
3.Borowiec L. (200_-2013) Chrysomelidae: The leaf beetles of Europe and the Mediterranean subregion (checklist and iconography)
4.Host plants of leaf beetle species occurring in the United States and Canada
Clark et al. 2004. Coleopterists Society, Special Publication no. 2, 476 pp.