Crioceris asparagi (Linnaeus, 1758)
Taxonomy: Polyphaga > Chrysomeloidea > Chrysomelidae > Crioceris > Crioceris asparagi
Common name:
Asparagus Beetle
Images
Source:
Keith Edkins
Source:
Lech Borowiec
Description
Size: 5.0-6.5mm
Basic colour: Blue-black, reddish and yellow
Pattern colour: Elytra yellow with a dark blue central band and three transverse stripes.
Number of spots: None, though the elytral banding effectively leaves three yellow spots per elytron.
Pronotoum: Reddish, often with a dark spot.
Leg colour: Dark blue-black; tibiae usually reddish at base.
Basic colour: Blue-black, reddish and yellow
Pattern colour: Elytra yellow with a dark blue central band and three transverse stripes.
Number of spots: None, though the elytral banding effectively leaves three yellow spots per elytron.
Pronotoum: Reddish, often with a dark spot.
Leg colour: Dark blue-black; tibiae usually reddish at base.
Biology
Status: Widespread and locally common, especially in the south-east.
Habitat: Anywhere with wild or (more usually) cultivated asparagus
Host plant: Asparagus officinalis
Overwintering: 2nd generation adults hibernate in old asparagus stems, or under dead leaves or bark.
Food: Adults and larvae feed on leaves and stems of asparagus.
Other notes: Considered a pest of garden and commercial asparagus. The continental C. duodecimpunctata has been found in Britain but is not established; it is orange-yellow with 6 black spots on each elytron.
Habitat: Anywhere with wild or (more usually) cultivated asparagus
Host plant: Asparagus officinalis
Overwintering: 2nd generation adults hibernate in old asparagus stems, or under dead leaves or bark.
Food: Adults and larvae feed on leaves and stems of asparagus.
Other notes: Considered a pest of garden and commercial asparagus. The continental C. duodecimpunctata has been found in Britain but is not established; it is orange-yellow with 6 black spots on each elytron.
Articles
Turner, C.R. (2011). Crioceris asparagi (Linnaeus) (Chrysomelidae) in Devon. The Coleopterist 20(2): 86.