Squash Bug Life Cycle

Squash bugs unfortunately are one of our biggest pests at the garden. For some reason we have been afflicted with them in great numbers ever since the garden first started. Squash bugs are bad because they spread disease from one squash plant to the other and they also reduce the productivity of the squash plant.

It is easy to see the adults but not so easy to see the nymphs when they hatch out.  You have to really examine all your squash plants (leaves, stalks, base of the plant) on a very regular basis to control them. Usually the eggs are found on the undersides of the leaves however in one bed the eggs were found on top of and underneath the leaves.

Look for the adults and  nymphs down in the base of the plants, along stems and the undersides of leaves. If you hand pick (and kill) every adult you see, you won't have nearly as many eggs to remove. And if you remove the eggs as soon as you see them, you won't have any nymphs to deal with either.

Spraying with Azamax will help but you have to be careful not to spray any beneficial insects and to spray at the correct time of day as well as when it isn't windy.

Here is a very handsome specimen, lurking, waiting to find a mate.

Ah ha....several squash bugs have found significant others and are now mating

 

Squash bug eggs are really gorgeous however every one of these eggs will become a pest. All of these need to be removed. The best way to do it is to just cut off the piece of leaf and then take it home to put in the trash. If you just drop the eggs on the ground, throw it in the compost pile or in the woods, the eggs will STILL hatch out!

These eggs are very close to hatching. Notice they have

 turned very translucent and some are almost white.

 

Baby squash bugs that have just hatched out. Soon

they will be adults looking for mates.